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Survey: Iraqis Support Women's Rights
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A survey conducted by Iraq's constitutional drafting committee showed that the majority of those responding supported full rights for women - as long as the freedoms are in accordance with Islam.
I'm not sure that makes sense ...
The survey released Sunday was conducted by a subcommittee of Iraq's constitutional committee that is drafting a new charter for the country. Though not designed with random sampling as are leading U.S. polls, the survey nonetheless was an attempt by the group to gauge public opinion in Iraq's chaotic environment on key topics in the charter. Over 156,000 people submitted responses to a multiple-choice questionnaire that was distributed across the country. Participants turned the forms into some 1,000 boxes across the country, according to Adnan Mohammed Hassan, head of the committee that directed the survey.

Several international polling agencies have measured Iraqi public opinion, but this survey is the first known government survey conducted since the country's new leaders were elected on Jan. 30.

On the topic of women's rights, 12 percent of respondents said women should have the same rights as men. Some secular-minded women fear a loss of rights if conservative clerics heavily influence the new constitution. Fifty-five percent said they favored a decentralized form of government, while 26 percent said they wanted a central government with a full powers.

The question of how much power to grant to local governments has been a contentious subject among the country's leaders. On Tuesday a top Shiite leader said he supported an autonomous region in the south for Shiites, but Sunni Arabs objected to the proposal's inclusion in the constitution, arguing that it would lead to the division of the country.

On the subject of the role of religion in the government, 28 percent said they want Islam to be the main source of legislation, while 25 percent said it should be the only source. The seemingly small difference in language has been negotiated on for days by the country's leaders, some who insist that the charter be entirely rooted in religious law.

On their preferred system of government, 55 percent said they prefer a parliamentarian system of rule, while 20 percent said they want to elect leaders directly through a presidential system. Eleven percent also said they want the constitution to bar senior members of Saddam Hussein's government from government posts.
Posted by: Steve White 2005-08-15
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=126792