BEIJING, Jan. 29 (Xinhuanet) -- Iraq holds general elections on Sunday to select a transitional parliament, which is responsible for the creation of a permanent constitution to replace the interim one.

    Following are basic facts of the interim constitution.

    Soon after the United States declared the end of "major combat operations" in Iraq in May 2003, the creation of a constitution became an issue. With the support of the US-British occupation authorities, the Iraqi Governing Council was established in July 2003 and was asked to draft a constitution. It failed to produce anything until November 2003 due to differences among council members.

    With soaring death toll of the US military and increasingly grim security situation, the coalition forces in Iraq demanded the council finish drafting the document by Feb. 28, 2004.

    On March 1, the Iraqi Governing Council reached consensus and ratified it a week later.

    Following are major points of the interim constitution:     

    -- Iraq will become a federal state.

    -- The Kurds will maintain their autonomy and both Kurdish and Arabic are official languages.

    -- Islam is the national religion of Iraq. Legislation shall respect Islamic traditions and principles, but Islamic Law should not replace the constitution and could not be the sole basis for legislation.

    -- Citizens enjoy freedom of speech, religion and assembly.

    -- The power of the interim Iraqi government will be shared between the president and the prime minister. The president has the power to nominate the cabinet and the prime minister but his/her decrees must be approved by two vice presidents.

    -- Nationwide elections for the National Assembly (transitional parliament) will be held by Jan. 31, 2005. The parliament will be responsible for drafting a permanent constitution and electing a new transitional government.

    -- The proportion of female seats in the National Assembly shall be at least 25 percent.

    -- A permanent constitution will be approved by a national referendum in 2005.

    -- General elections to select a new government will be held before the end of 2005 after the approval of the permanent constitution.

    -- The transitional government will be dissolved after the new government is formed. Enditem