After a weeklong delay, Iraq's Governing Council has agreed to a new constitution for their country. The signing of the document marks a historic moment for Iraq. It establishes a framework for democratic self-government and safeguards individual rights. The transition from dictatorship to democracy will not be easy, however: Shiite Muslims strongly criticized the document they had signed only minutes before. Their willingness to sign the interim constitution is a promising indication of a readiness to compromise for the sake of the country. Iraq's future rests on their willingness to continue along that path.

Iraq's Transitional Administrative Law is an interim constitution that will serve as a legal blueprint until a permanent legislature is elected. It mandates that elections for a 275-member transitional assembly will be held by the end of January 2005. That assembly will draft a constitution and choose a president and two deputy presidents, and those three executives will select a prime minister and a Cabinet. The transitional government will serve until the permanent constitution is approved in a national referendum and new elections are held.

Although the transitional law is only an interim document, it does set standards for the permanent constitution that will follow. The document includes a bill of rights that protects individual rights such as freedom of speech, religion and assembly. It declares Islam to be the "official religion of the state," but tempers that by noting that it is only "a source" of legislation and that it cannot infringe on the guarantees contained in the bill of rights.