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July 1, 2009
News
Electoral commission to decide on constitution referendum
AFP
The Independent High Electoral Commission will decide today, July1, on whether it can make preparations of a referendum on the draft of the Kurdistan Constitution on July 25.
On June 24, the Kurdistan Parliament passed the draft of the Kurdistan Constitution and later asked the Commission to make preparation for a referendum on the draft when the region holds its parliamentary and presidential elections on July 25.
Before passing the draft, civil society organizations, academics, intellectual and activists called on the parliament to postpone the voting until the next parliament term which is due to be elected on July 25th.
Opponents of the Constitution say that the Parliament had not right to vote on the Constitution because its mandate was ended on June 4.
The draft recognizes Islam as one of the main sources of legislation, a point that Islamic parties had long demanded for and secular parties rejected. The draft also gives sweeping power to the region’s President, critics say.
If the Commission decided that it can make preparations for the referendum, the draft will be put before voters for ratification and if passed it would be the first time in the history for Kurdistan to have its own Constitution.
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