Baghdad, Iraq – Iraqi lawmakers approved a set of last- minute amendments to the constitution without a vote Wednesday, sealing a compromise designed to win Sunni support and boost chances for the charter’s approval in a referendum just three days away.
The deal came as insurgents pressed their campaign to wreck the vote. A suicide bomber killed 30 Iraqis at an army recruitment center in a northern town that was struck by another bomber a day earlier.
The amendments made some key concessions to Sunni Arabs, starting with the first article underlining that Iraq will be a single nation with its unity guaranteed – a nod to fears among the disaffected minority that the draft as it stands will fragment the country.
Other changes open the door to Sunni Arabs to try to make more dramatic substantive changes in the constitution later, after a new parliament is elected in December.
Sunnis want to weaken the considerable autonomous powers the Shiite and Kurdish mini-states would have under the constitution.
But there’s no guarantee they will succeed: They will still probably face strong opposition from majority Shiites and Kurds in the new parliament.
Iraqi leaders – including the Kurdish president, Sunni Arab vice president and Shiite prime minister – lined up on a stage before the National Assembly, lauding the deal as a show of unity between the country’s often divided factions and communities.
“We have the right to be proud in saying that today was a day of national consensus,” President Jalal Talabani said. “So, congratulations to our people for their constitution.”
The hour-long session, attended by 159 of parliament’s 275 members, ended without a vote on the amendments.
Parliament Speaker Hajim al-Hassani said one wasn’t necessary and that the compromise was approved.
“Today, with the presence of the National Assembly members, it is considered to be adopted,” he told The Associated Press.
The agreement already had been accepted by the main political parties after it was reached Tuesday night after three days of marathon negotiations, shepherded by U.S. officials eager to see the constitution pass.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad attended the parliament session.
