Main points of Iraq’s constitution
Following are the main points of the Iraqi interim Constitution, according to officials in the US-led occupation administration and Iraqis who took part in talks on the document:
* Elections for a transitional assembly will be held by the end of January 2005 at the latest. That assembly will draft the permanent constitution.
* There will be also be an unelected government, probably a shared presidency plus a prime minister and a cabinet.
* No decision has been made on the shape of the caretaker government, which will take over on 30 June.
* Full elections should be held by the end of 2005, once a permanent constitution is ready.
* Islam is the official religion in Iraq, but is not the primary source for legislation.
* The document includes a comprehensive bill of human rights.
* The target for female seats in the new assembly is 25%.
* Iraq will be a federal state. The exact relationship of the provinces, most controversially the Kurdish area in the north, to central authority has not been decided.
* Kurdish officials say there is still a provision allowing them to maintain their peshmerga militias for the moment.