25 August 2005
U.S. Encouraged by Iraq's Progress in Drafting Constitution
White House official says Iraqis working to craft durable document
White House official Trent Duffy says the United States is encouraged by the progress that Iraqis are making in drafting a constitution and is ready to assist them in that effort.
“The United States is ready and willing and there to help and assist them meet their own deadlines, but the progress is encouraging,” Duffy told to reporters in Crawford, Texas, President Bush’s home, August 25.
He said the Iraqis are investing "great care and effort" in crafting a “durable document.”
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said August 25 that all Iraqi groups -- Shi'a, Sunni, Kurds and others -- have been involved in the discussions aimed at completing the final text and resolving outstanding political issues.
On August 22, the Iraqi constitutional committee submitted a draft of the constitution to the interim legislature, saying that final amendments would be made by August 25, but the interim legislature did not convene on that date.
For additional information, see Iraq's Political Process.
Following are excerpts from Duffy’s and McCormack’s media briefings August 25, which contain their comments about the Iraqi constitutional issue:
(begin excerpt)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
(Crawford, Texas)
August 25, 2005
PRESS GAGGLE WITH TRENT DUFFY
Crawford Middle School
Crawford, Texas
Question: On the Iraqi constitution, I'm sure you saw that the Iraqi parliament suspended indefinitely a vote. Do you have any response to that?
MR. DUFFY: Well, the Iraqis continue to work very hard on their own constitution, and to meet the deadline that they themselves established and set into law. The United States is ready and willing and there to help and assist them meet their own deadlines, but the progress is encouraging. All sides are at the table; they're still talking, they're negotiating. And those are what you see in a democracy and a government that's working to develop a very important document. I think it says a lot about the weight that the Iraqis put into this document that they're taking such great care and effort to craft it, so that it is a durable document and so that it is an important document.
As President Bush said Tuesday, our own constitution took quite a bit of time and effort to construct, and it's been amended several times since. So we're encouraged by the progress. The U.S. is working to assist them, but they continue to work towards that.
U.S. Department of State
Daily Press Briefing
Thursday, August 25, 2005
12:45 p.m. EDT
Briefer: Sean McCormack, Spokesman
QUESTION: Good. Following a bouncing ball is very hard. What is the U.S. handle on whether the constitution is going to be completed and when? And I have a question about procedure that I hope you can answer. Is it the U.S. understanding this -- the constitution must be submitted to the legislature October, by the 5th, and then must there be a national referendum or is there some shortcut way?
MR. MCCORMACK: Okay. Let's start with your procedural question first. And I have to caveat this by saying that I am not an expert in the legal interpretations of the TAL. But my understanding is this: That there is a -- in the TAL, there is a referendum scheduled for, I believe, October 15th, to vote on a constitution. And as to where the Iraqi people will have an opportunity to vote for the constitution -- the draft constitution that has been put together by the drafting committee and then had some input from the Iraqi Transitional National Assembly.
As for what action -- the parliamentary procedure from this point on, from the point at which the constitutional drafting committee has submitted their draft to the Transitional Assembly, which has already happened -- that happened three days ago that the parliamentary procedures on how to move forward from this point are not laid out in the TAL. It is up to the Parliament to decide on -- the Iraqi parliament to decide on what steps they take next. So, the short answer to your question is the Iraqis will decide on that issue.
As for the status, before I came out here, I checked with the Embassy in Baghdad. There is still high-level political discussions ongoing, talking about a couple of remaining issues and that the -- I'll let the Iraqis describe for you out of their the state of play on where they are on those issues. At the same time, there are also groups that are meeting to finalize language on the other issues that have been resolved. And again, I leave it to the Iraqis to describe those.
So -- and I talked to our embassy about whether or not all Iraqi groups -- Shia, Sunni, Kurds and others -- are involved in these discussions. And there are -- they have all been involved in these discussions throughout the day. So, the discussions continue. People are working on finalizing text. People are working to resolve outstanding political issues. So, that's my understanding of where we stand.
(end excerpt)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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