United Press International, WASHINGTON: Iraqis look likely to vote for a new constitution Saturday but may not get much stability in return. Although some key Sunni leaders have approved the document after key concessions from Shiite and Kurdish politicians, militant groups in Fallujah are threatening to execute them.
Sunnis, who form the bulk of the insurgency, and enjoyed vast powers under Saddam Hussein at the expense of the Shiites, were opposed to the draft constitution, which they said gave too much power the Shiites and Kurds.
Under a U.S.-backed compromise reached Wednesday, the government agreed to change major provisions in the document to prevent a much-feared breakup of Iraq and also agreed that a future elected government, to be chosen in December, will have four months to renegotiate the document after which the nation will vote again on approving it.
In return, moderate Sunnis dropped their opposition Wednesday to the draft and said they would take part in Saturday's vote, which is now expected to approve the document. If two-thirds of voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject the document, a new government must be formed and the constitution process would have to begin anew.
Although the passage of the document is no longer in doubt, it is unclear what will change in the long term.
Juan Cole, a professor of history at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, wrote in his online diary, or Web log, Informed Comment, that the Bush administration by backing Wednesday's deal was playing more to a domestic constituency that polls showed was getting increasingly disenchanted with the war in Iraq.
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