An important last-minute deal between Iraq’s religious and ethnic groups has brought the Sunni minority back into the political process. More important than the 11th-hour changes to the constitution is the fact that these groups are working together. That doesn’t mean that minority groups won’t still try to disrupt the vote with continued violence or that disputes about territory and representation will be resolved, but it shows that compromise and negotiation is the only path to political success in Iraq.

Because they largely stayed away from January’s parliamentary elections, Sunnis hold few seats in the country’s National Assembly, giving them little voice in the drafting of the country’s constitution. Sunni leaders have warned for months that they would push for rejection of the constitution because they disagree with the notion of a federalist Iraq for fear that the Shiite majority and Kurds will claim oil-rich parts of the country, leaving the Sunnis with the impoverished center of Iraq.

To allay such fears, Iraqi lawmakers agreed to allow the Sunnis to try to amend the constitution after Saturday’s vote. The compromise was the result of three days of negotiations and was approved by the Iraqi parliament on Wednesday, although the members who attended the session did not actually vote on the amendments.

The major amendment calls for a parliamentary committee that would have four months to recommend changes to the constitution. Such changes would require a majority, not the normal two-thirds, vote in parliament.

“Before now, I felt like I am losing,” Mishan Jabouri, a Sunni Arab involved in the negotiations, told The Washington Post. “Now everything has changed. This constitution, I think any Arab Sunni can support it.”

That is an overstatement, but the constitution will likely be approved. To be rejected, two-thirds of voters in three or more of the country’s 18 provinces would have to vote “No.”

Although approval of the constitution is important, the change in tone among Shiite and Kurdish leaders is critical to Iraq’s political future. These leaders who finally recognized that the Sunnis, who despite their minority status were the ruling power under Saddam Hussein, must be accommodated. Leaving the Sunnis on the outside risking fueling their anger and the insurgency that it fuels. Listening to their concerns may not immediately stop the insurgency, but it eliminates a major grievance.

The Sunnis are not the only group marginalized by the constitution. Future re-writes should also restore to women the rights they had under the prior regime.

If the constitution is approved today, the next challenge will be to continue the cooperation. That means that Shiites and Kurds may have to give up some of their power for the larger good of trying to create national unity in Iraq.