US embassy cable - 05BAGHDAD3783

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 003783 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/13/2015 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, MOPS, PTER, IZ, Parliament 
SUBJECT: DRAFT CONSTITUTION SIGNED, PASSED TO UNAMI 
 
Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRES DAVID M. SATTERFIELD FOR REASONS 1.4 ( 
b) AND (d). 
 
1. (C) SUMMARY.  The Iraqi draft Constitution was signed and 
delivered to UNAMI for printing the afternoon of September 
13.  Deputy Speaker Shahristani plans to announce the final 
text at a press conference September 14.  SRSG Qazi has 
expressed concern that the amended text was never formally 
acted on by the TNA.  Sunni Arab contacts expressed surprise 
that the draft Constitution had been signed.  Deputy 
Constitution Committee Chairman Masoum confirmed that none of 
the fifteen added Sunni Arab members were present at the 
September 13 session.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2. (SBU) The Constitution Committee was called to session on 
September 13.  Deputy Speaker Shahristani attended the 
meeting and presented the members with the following five 
changes: (a) Article 3 was amended to state that Iraq is a 
"founding and effective member of the Arab League and is 
committed to its charter"; (b) deletion of the old Article 44 
was confirmed (Note: Article 44 had guaranteed individuals 
the protection of international human rights treaties, but 
problematically had restricted the guarantee to only those 
treaty rights not contravening the constitution.  End note.); 
(c) Article 108 -- now Article 107.8 -- was amended to 
reflect that the federal government will have exclusive 
authority over "planning policies relating to water sources 
from outside Iraq and guaranteeing the rate of water flow to 
Iraq and its just distribution inside Iraq in accordance with 
laws and international conventions";  (d) Article 111 -- now 
Article 110.7 -- was changed to give federal and regional 
authorities shared authority over the "policy of internal 
water resources in a way that guarantees its fair 
distribution"; and (e) Article 135 was added to state that 
there will be two Deputy Prime Ministers in the first 
electoral term. 
 
3. (C) Shahristani provided Charge with a copy of the draft 
signed by himself, Masoum and (Sunni Arab) Deputy 
Constitution Committee Chairman Adnan al-Janabi.  Shahristani 
said that the text would be delivered to UNAMI and that he 
would announce the final text at a press conference September 
14.  Shahristani indicated that he would do his utmost to 
line up full Shia Coalition support behind the text before he 
makes his announcement, but if necessary would proceed with 
the press conference on his own authority.  His task was 
complicated, he said, by politically-motivated to opposition 
to the Constitution draft from Ayad Allawi's INA and PM 
Jafari's Da'wa Party within the Drafting Committee. 
 
4. (C) PolOffs spoke separately with three Constitution 
Committee members -- (Kurdish) Deputy Chairman Masoum, Adil 
Nasir Haiji, and Yonadam Kanna -- all of whom reported that 
Shahristani told Committee members that this version is final 
and not subject to change.  Masoum told PolOff that the 
changes on water resources reflected agreements encouraged by 
Ambassador Khalilzad and UK Ambassador Patey.  Masoum further 
noted that the deletion of Article 44 and changes in Article 
3 were also made in response to U.S. encouragement.  Poloff 
noted the absence of "the Sunni 15" from the September 13 
Constitution Committee meeting.  Masoum responded that the 
Sunnis were not invited since they did not support the 
Constitution anyway.  He added that he believed many Sunni 
Arabs, including even some in the group of 15, would support 
the text.  He said that Shahristani, in response to queries 
from Shia Committee members, had said the changes came from 
Najaf, ending further discussion.  (NOTE: In a separate 
conversation, Masoum acknowledged to PolCouns that there had 
been significant grumbling in the Constitution Committee 
about the latest amendments, and that some members wanted to 
reopen the document to other changes, including oil and gas. 
END NOTE.) 
 
5. (C) In a conversation with PolOff, SRSG Qazi confirmed 
UNAMI's receipt of the signed text.  However, he expressed 
concern that the text had not been formally put before the 
TNA.  Qazi said that the UN would be put in an "awkward 
position" if asked to use the latest draft for the 
UNAMI-supported civic outreach program without further TNA 
action.  Qazi said he was particularly concerned over lack of 
support for the final draft from members of the Da'wa Party 
and Iraqi National Accord.  Qazi said that if the draft were 
formally introduced to the TNA, UNAMI would be in a better 
position to support the draft.  (COMMENT: We agree, and 
Charge has pressed Shahristani on this point.  Shahristani 
responded that INA/Da'wa dissent over the Constitution makes 
such a procedure more problematic than helpful, but would 
reassess the situation on Wednesday morning.  END COMMENT.) 
UNAMI only received a paper copy of the draft, he said, but 
expects to receive an electronic version following 
Shahristani's September 14 press conference. 
 
6. (C) In a discussion with PolOff, two Sunni Arab contacts 
--  Iraqi Republican Gathering leader Saad al-Janabi and 
Iraqi Council of National Dialogue (ICND) member Sadoun 
al-Zubaidi -- claimed surprise at the news that the draft had 
been signed.  Both said Sunni Arab Constitution Committee 
members and experts would meet the evening of September 13 to 
discuss the changes and next steps.  They reaffirmed the 
importance Sunni Arabs place on "unresolved" issues in the 
constitution.  In contrast, Sunni Arab TNA member Abdul 
Rahman al-Nouaimi from Mosul told PolOff today that "due to 
the security situation, we need a Constitution now, and it's 
possible to amend it later." 
Satterfield