My impression is that a lot of the constitution is contradictory or murky or deliberately leaves issues to be resolved at a later date. It certainly isn’t a good sign that Dr. Raja Kuzai, a secular Shiite and women’s activist, says she’s going to have to leave the country. On the other hand, most of this stuff is going to have to be worked out in practice, which isn’t such a bad thing. A lot will depend on the character of Iraqi politics going forward, a point made at the conclusion of the New York Times piece on the constitution today:

Some secular-minded Iraqis believe the constitution is less important than political battles to come. Adnan Pachachi, a former foreign minister, said that if secular Sunni and Shiite leaders bind together with the Kurds, they might, after the next election, constitute a majority of the Assembly. As such, they could successfully block the imposition of an Islamic state.