Democracy in Action

In Iraq, the referendum on the constitution is fast approaching. It is still facing strong opposition from the majority of Sunnis and also some Shias.

An alliance including the Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars and the large movement of Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr said it rejected the draft and a "political process which had been led by occupiers and their collaborators."
The group said in a media statement: "We consider this draft as a next step of this process which does not represent the peoples' will." The alliance also expressed "major suspicions about the honesty of the next referendum, which will take place under occupation and with neither international nor Arabic and Islamic supervision."

No independent observers at all? Surely that can't be right? It absolutely must be a good idea to allow independent observers to monitor the referendum, even if it's only to avoid the accusation that the "coalition" has something to hide. Unless they actually do have something to hide, of course.

I should add that I haven't verified that there won't be any outside supervision of the referedum. I will try to check. In the meantime, if anyone has information on any plans to implement independent monitoring procedures, I'd be much obliged if you could point me in the right direction.