Iraqis voted in force on Saturday on a draft Constitution that turns another page on the ousted regime of Saddam Hussein as insurgents evaded a massive security clampdown to kill four people.
About 15,5-million Iraqis had a chance to vote on the charter, which lays out a democratic framework for a new Iraq but has sharply divided the country on ethnic lines and was only drafted after weeks of tortuous negotiations.
Celebratory gunfire broke out in several Baghdad neighbourhoods after polls closed, and senior electoral official Abdel Hindawi said that according to a preliminary estimation, more than 61% of registered Iraqis had cast ballots.
In Washington, United States President George Bush hailed the referendum as ”a critical step forward” in war-torn Iraq’s move towards democracy, whether or not the charter passed.
”By casting their ballots, the Iraqi people deal a severe blow to the terrorists and send a clear message to the world: Iraqis will decide the future of their country through peaceful elections, not violent insurgency,” he said.
Kurdish President Jalal Talabani had said after casting his ballot inside Baghdad’s heavily protected Green Zone: ”I think the majority will vote yes.”
In the country’s second national vote since Saddam was toppled by US-led invasion forces in April 2003, Iraqis were asked a single question: ”Do you approve the draft Constitution of Iraq?”.
However, under a deal hammered out on Wednesday to bring disaffected Sunni Arabs on board, voters decided on what is effectively a partial Constitution since political leaders agreed that amendments could be considered after new elections in December.
Many Sunnis, who make up about 20% of Iraq’s 26-million population, fear federal provisions in the charter could lead to the break-up of Iraq and leave control of its vast oil wealth in the hands of the majority Shi’ites and the Kurds.
Saleh al-Motlaq, a Sunni spokesperson for the National Council for Dialogue who had helped draft the charter, said he himself had voted no because he was not satisfied with the result.
”I took part in the consultation and I voted no to the Constitution,” he said.
Bomb blast
Despite a raft of security measures, including a ban on cars and weapons and the closure of international borders, three Iraqi soldiers were killed in a bomb blast as they inspected a polling station north-east of the capital early on Saturday.
West of Baghdad, a civilian was shot dead during an attack on police near a polling station, but voter turnout was peaceful and particularly heavy in the Kurdish north and southern Shi’ite areas.
Sabotage on a power line cut electricity to the capital and the main southern city of Basra, plunging both into darkness late on Friday. Baghdad remained cut off on Saturday.
Cars and pedestrians were largely absent from Baghdad streets, creating the eerie feel of a ghost town in a city of six million people.
”Today we are in transition; we are about to attain political stability built on a constitutional foundation,” Shi’ite Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari told reporters.
The charter requires a simple majority to be approved, but would be rejected if two-thirds of the votes in at least three of Iraq’s 18 provinces say no.
Results should be known within three days, chief electoral official Adil al-Lami said.
”But if people have serious complaints, of course we will check to see if they are justified. That would delay a final declaration,” he said.
In Baghdad, dozens of men and women who came on foot to vote had entered the polling stations in separate lines after being checked three times by police officers and US soldiers.
The Constitution ”represents hope for Iraq even if some things are missing which will be addressed later”, said Jamil Musawi, a voter in the town of Kut south of Baghdad.
‘Important benchmark’
The top United Nations envoy in Iraq, Ashraf Qazi, called the referendum ”a very important benchmark in the political transition” and stressed that ”whatever the choice of the Iraqis the political process will proceed”.
But underscoring hostility among Sunni Arabs, posters outside a prominent mosque in Baghdad showed Iraq cut up by bloody sabres held by hands attached to US and Iranian flags.
”No to the Constitution that tears the unity of Iraq,” it declared.
In Hilla, south of Baghdad, loudspeakers at Shi’ite mosques blared: ”The Constitution is Iraq’s salvation,” backing the recommendation of Iraq’s revered top Shi’ite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani.
Security measures for the vote included a four-day national holiday that began on Thursday, an extended curfew, a ban on civilians carrying weapons and a ban on the use of personal vehicles.
International borders were closed to traffic except the transport of food, water and fuel, and Baghdad airport is shut down until Monday.
In northern Mosul, men with assault rifles warned voters that a polling station would be attacked, and handed out leaflets depicting a donkey voting in front of a figure of Uncle Sam.
The US ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said that if the democratic process advanced and if enough Iraq security forces could be trained, the US military presence could begin to decrease next year.
The Iraqi electoral commission had said 52 000 official observers would oversee the vote, and since political parties were also authorised to attend, the total number could reach up to 116 000. — AFP
