that a final agreement on some of the Constitution's most important elements, including federalism, was still far from complete. As a result, the Committee was effectively dissolved and replaced by an ad hoc body (referred to as the "Leadership Council"), which was composed of approximately 6 members and which continued to negotiate the constitution's final terms until three days before the referendum date. The first draft of the proposed constitution was presented to the Transitional National Assembly on Sunday 28 August 2005. It described the state as a "democratic, federal, representative republic" (art. 1) (however, the division of powers is to be deferred until the first parliament convenes), and a "multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-sect country" (art. 3). The draft was approved, but political negotiations continued, in order to reach a compromise that would also ensure the support of Sunni groups, thus leading to consequent revisions and redrafting of several articles. On 18 September 2005, the Transitional National Assembly of Iraq approved and adopted the final constitutional draft, that was then put to the public. The Constitution was finally adopted on 15 October 2005, in a national referendum. The Constitution was published on 28 December 2005, in the Official Gazette of Iraq (No. 4012), in Arabic original, and thus came into force. Since there were several unofficial translations of previous drafts and proposals, that were created earlier, during the summer of 2005, an official translation of the Constitution, for international use (in English language) was produced, in cooperation between state authorities Iraq and the United Nations' Office for Constitutional Support. Proposed changes Under a compromise brokered before the referendum, it was agreed that the first parliament that was to be elected pursuant to the new constitution would institute a Constitutional Review Committee with a view to determine whether the constitution should be amended. Any amendments agreed would have to be ratified by a similar referendum to the one that originally approved it. After this agreement was entered into, the Sunni-majority Iraqi Islamic Party agreed to back a Yes vote in the referendum that took place on 15 October 2005. The Constitutional Review Committee was constituted by the Iraqi parliament on 25 September 2006. Overview Basic principles The Constitution sets out a multitude of basic assertions (unfortunately because of last minute changes to the constitution, most of the footnote references below to specific articles in the constitution are inaccurate): Iraq is an