MrAustin
04-07-2007, 02:19 PM
Arbil, Apr. 7 (VOI) – An Iraqi Kurdistan parliament member said a campaign was underway to garner the support of Kurdish parties for the drafting of a secular constitution for Kurdistan.
"We have submitted a memo collecting the signatures of 4,000 people to the Kurdistan constitution drafting committee with the aim of having the 7th Chapter amended," Suzan Shihab told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on Saturday.
The 7th Chapter of the Iraqi Kurdistan constitution provides that Islam is the official religion of the region.
"We're not against Islam or against the notion that Islam is the religion of the majority of residents but we're fighting for democracy and the building of a civilian society for the next generations," Shihab said.
She noted that the campaign does not express the voices of only those 4,000 signatories as there were organizations, to which thousands of people belong, have also signed the petition.
"We've started meeting with officials from Kurdish parties and they all supported our demand," she said. Shihab referred to a counter-campaign that started in the Kurdish province of al-Sulaymaniya, where the residents objected the secularization of the region's constitution.
"We have submitted a memo collecting the signatures of 4,000 people to the Kurdistan constitution drafting committee with the aim of having the 7th Chapter amended," Suzan Shihab told the independent news agency Voices of Iraq (VOI) on Saturday.
The 7th Chapter of the Iraqi Kurdistan constitution provides that Islam is the official religion of the region.
"We're not against Islam or against the notion that Islam is the religion of the majority of residents but we're fighting for democracy and the building of a civilian society for the next generations," Shihab said.
She noted that the campaign does not express the voices of only those 4,000 signatories as there were organizations, to which thousands of people belong, have also signed the petition.
"We've started meeting with officials from Kurdish parties and they all supported our demand," she said. Shihab referred to a counter-campaign that started in the Kurdish province of al-Sulaymaniya, where the residents objected the secularization of the region's constitution.