California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is weighing an anti-war bill approved by the state's lawmakers, which would allow voters to sound off about the U.S. war in Iraq and call for its immediate end.
The bill, expected on the governor's desk Thursday, asks voters in the state whether President George Bush should "end the United States occupation of Iraq and achieve the immediate, complete, safe and orderly withdrawal of U.S. forces?"
If signed by Schwarzenegger, the measure would be put on the February 5 presidential primary ballot in the state and make California the first in the U.S. to vote on the war.
Schwarzenegger, a Republican, will have 12 days to decide whether to sign or veto the bill, which was sponsored by state Senate leader Don Perata, a Democrat, and passed in both houses of the Democratic-controlled state legislature earlier.
Although the governor hasn't take a position so far, reports said Schwarzenegger would unlikely endorse it because his signature on the measure would infuriate Republicans at the legislature, who were already unsatisfied with his history of ignoring them.
None of Republican lawmakers have voted for the anti-war bill, and if the governor has any lingering hope of achieving some semblance of healthcare reform this year, he can't further strain relations with his fellow Republicans, analysts said.
Moreover, the anti-war bill calls for an "immediate" troop pullout from Iraq, and that conflicts with the position of Schwarzenegger, who has advocated a "timetable" for withdrawal.
A recent survey by the independent Field Poll service found that 58 percent of voters in California favor setting a spring 2008 deadline to begin withdrawing troops from Iraq.
Schwarzenegger always fashions himself as a "people's governor" who welcomes citizens' input, but he could probably veto the bill to point out that the Iraq war is largely a White House issue.
Source: Xinhua
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