Federalism in Iraq

The Constitution of Iraq that was adopted in 2005 defined Iraq for the first time as a federal country.

History

After the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in 1919, Iraq became a League of Nations mandate under British control. Shaikh Mahmud Barzanji led a Kurdish revolt against the British and established in 1922 an independent Kingdom of Kurdistan in northern Iraq. In 1924 the British defeated Mahmud, and Kurdistan was incorporated into the Kingdom of Iraq. However, Kurdish leaders continued to press for independence or autonomy, including with the Barzani Revolt in 1961. In 1970 the Iraqi government agreed to create the Kurdish Autonomous Region covering three provinces of northern Iraq.

After the end of the Persian Gulf War in 1991 the Kurdish region rose up against President Saddam Hussein and gained "de facto" independence under the protection of a no fly zone. After the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL) recognised the existing regional government and defined Iraq for the first time as a federal country. The TAL also allowed up to three governorates outside Kurdistan to form a Region, except for Baghdad Governorate and Kirkuk Governorate, subject to approval by the Iraqi Interim Government and the population of the new region in a referendum.

Constitution

Federalism Law

Article 114 of the [http://portal.unesco.org/ci/en/files/20704/11332732681iraqi_constitution_en.pdf/iraqi_constitution_en.pdf constitution of Iraq] provided that no new region may be created before the Iraqi National Assembly has passed a law which provides the procedures for forming the region. [http://www.niqash.org/intern/getBin.php?id=367 This law] was passed in October 2006 after an agreement was reached with the Iraqi Accord Front to form the constitutional review committee and to defer implementation of the law for 18 months. Legislators from the Iraqi Accord Front, Sadrist Movement and Islamic Virtue Party all opposed the bill. [ [http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=IBO145418&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-4 Iraqi parliament approves federal law] , "Reuters", 2006-10-11 ]

Creating a new region

Under the Federalism Law a region can be created out of one or more existing governorates or two or more existing regions. A governorate can also join an existing region to create a new region. There is no limit to the number of governorates that can form a region, unlike the Transitional Administrative Law of the Iraqi Interim Government which limited it to three.

A new region can be proposed by one third or more of the council members in each affected governorate plus 500 voters or by one tenth or more voters in each affected governorate. A referendum must then be held within three months, which requires a simple majority in favour to pass.

In the event of competing proposals, the multiple proposals are put to a ballot and the proposal with the most supporters is put to the referendum.

In the event of an affirmative referendum a Transitional Legislative Assembly is elected for one year, which has the task of writing a constitution for the Region, which is then put to a referendum requiring a simple majority to pass.

The President, Prime Minister and Ministers of the region are elected by simple majority, in contrast to the Iraqi National Assembly which requires two thirds support.

Proposals

SCIRI has proposed the creation of a Shiite Region covering all nine southern governorates. On March 16 Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, the leader of SCIRI proposed a compromise whereby two Regions are created - one in the far South near Basra and one for the middle Euphrates region. [ [http://www.juancole.com/2006/03/usiraqi-attack-on-samarra-region.html US/Iraqi Attack on Samarra Region Parliament Sworn In] , "Informed Comment", 2006-03-17 ]

The Islamic Virtue Party governor of Basra has expressed support for a Region covering only Basrah and its two neighbouring governorates of Maysan and Dhiqar. [ [http://www.kurdmedia.com/news.asp?id=6943 Proposal to divide Iraq into semi-autonomous states gains ground] , "Kurdish Media", 2005-05-25 ]

The Sadrist Movement supports a stronger central government, saying that federalism should not be applied to the south "while Iraq is still under occupation". [ [http://electroniciraq.net/news/2499.shtml Iraq's Federalism Debate Rages On] , "Institute for War and Peace Reporting", 2006-09-26 ]

References