Iraqi political leaders objecting the draft constitution have called on the people to veto the charter in the mid October referendum, leaving the fate of the country's first post-war basic law unknown.

"Those who support the constitution will be defeated by their own weapon of democracy", said Ayatollah Mohamed Jawad Al Khalisi, a Shiite cleric who objects to the constitution.

Accusing the draft of boosting sectarianism and racism and causing the split-up of a unified Iraq, he urged the people to say "No" to the charter in the referendum.

Khalisi is the secretary general of the Iraqi National Founding Conference, which consists of tens of Shiite and Sunni groups and parties, such as the leading Sunni Association of Muslim Scholars and the group led by Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr.

Iraqi Islamic Party, an influential Sunni bloc, also urged the people to express their opinions at the voting booth.

"It is the Iraqi people who can pressure the assembly to change the draft," Tareq al-Hashimi, the party's secretary general, said in a news conference.

"If the Iraqi people demand to change the articles in the draft which undermine its unity, the National Assembly should do so," he added.

The objectors hope to mobilize the people to vote against the charter, as constitution would be vetoed if rejected by two-thirds of voters in any three provinces in Iraq, according to the interim constitution.

If so, the parliament would be dissolved and a new political process would start by electing new transitional parliament with the task to write a new constitution.

At least three out of Iraq's 18 provinces are predominantly Sunni. Furthermore, even some Shiite provinces might vote against the constitution if Shiite cleric, Muqtada al-Sadr, who opposes " federalism", asked his followers to do so.

From now until the referendum day on Oct. 15, both the constitution supporters and objectors will lead cut-throat campaigns to mobilize their followers to participate the referendum.

Some Sunni leaders also called on its followers to stay away from the violence.

"I call on Iraqis to express their opinions in the referendum without using the means of violence," said Saleh al-Mutlaq, a top Sunni negotiator.

Five million copies of the draft would be handed out to the Iraqi people, in an effort to let them get to know the content.

A survey conducted by the Iraqi Center for Global Development and Dialogue found that 88 percent of respondents intend to participate in the referendum, six percent have not decided yet while five percent want to boycott it.

The result showed that only 30 percent of those questioned would support federalism and 78 percent expect the security situation to improve after the constitution is passed.

Source: Xinhua