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Strong opinions, weakly held

Good news for democracy in Iraq

Eric Umansky notices the following today:

Only the Journal highlights a crucial bit of procedure: If two-thirds of the population of any three of Iraq’s 18 provinces vote no in a constitutional referendum, then the political process goes back to square 1, requiring not only a new draft constitution but a new transition parliament. So, how many provinces are Sunni-dominated?

Is there anything better to get Sunnis to embrace politics than to give them the ability to torpedo a Constitution that they strongly object to? I’m pretty certain that there are at least three provinces in Iraq that are dominated by Sunnis, who will have a huge incentive to vote, regardless of whether they love or hate the government. This is the most hopeful sign I’ve seen in some time.

Here’s a map of Iraq’s provinces. A bit of research reveals that Sunnis have a majority in Anbar, Salah ad Din, Ninawah, and Diyala.

1 Comment

  1. The Sunnis are angry because they’re not gonna control as much oil, correct?

    Why not just have a nationalized oil industry? This would make the most sense to me. None of the major ethnic groups would feel left out.

    Thanks for the map link, I had been looking for a good, easy to read map of Iraqs provinces.

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