http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems...0/s1475581.htm
Iraq U-turn on constitution vote rules
Iraq's Parliament has reversed an earlier decision over rules governing a referendum next week on the country's new constitution.
"They have reversed their decision as we had hoped they would," United Nations spokesman Said Arikat said in Baghdad.
On Sunday, the Iraqi Parliament voted to change the rules for the referendum, saying that for it to be defeated, two thirds of registered voters in three of Iraq's 18 provinces would have to say "no", rather than two thirds of those who turn out to vote.
The decision sparked a storm of protest, including from the UN.
The UN said such an interpretation was unfair and did not meet international standards.
But under pressure from the UN and the United States, the Iraqi Parliament has decided to revert to the original rules.
The deputy speaker of the parliament, Hussain al-Shahristani, says a crucial clause in the interim constitution will be interpreted as meaning those who turn out to vote, not merely registered voters.
"The 'voters' means those voters who are registered and who exercise that right," he told reporters, speaking in English.
Mahmoud Othman, an independent Kurdish lawmaker who had campaigned against parliament's earlier decision, calling it a double standard, says he is pleased it has been reversed.
"The decision the other day was wrong, it was unfair and it was not democratic," he told Reuters.
"Now when we say voters, we mean those people who put their ballots in the box, as it should be."
The earlier decision by parliament was rammed through by Shiites and Kurds, who dominate the chamber and who want to ensure that the constitution, largely drafted by them, is passed.
Many Sunni Arabs, a minority in Iraq, reject the constitution, saying it favours the Shiites and Kurds, and are hoping they might be able to defeat it at the referendum if they can rally enough "no" votes.
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