Shiite Leader Urges 'Yes' In Vote on Iraq Charter

WaPo reports The leader of Iraq's largest Shiite Muslim political organization joined the country's most revered and powerful Shiite cleric Saturday in a strong public push for voter support of a new constitution, three weeks ahead of a national referendum. "It is our religious duty to say 'yes' to the constitution and to go to the ballot boxes," Abdul Aziz Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, told more than 2,000 supporters gathered in Baghdad to mark a 1991 Shiite uprising that was crushed brutally by President Saddam Hussein. The appeal added a key voice of support two days after Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani also directed followers to back the charter. Shiite solidarity is essential if the constitution is to pass in the Oct. 15 vote. If two-thirds of voters in any three of Iraq's 18 provinces reject the document, a new government must be formed and the process of writing the constitution started over.

I hope the Constitution is approved on October 15.