Getting rid of Iraq’s political crises requires amending the constitution

Getting rid of Iraq’s political crises requires amending the constitution

6-24-2022

With every election since the adoption of the 2005 constitution, Iraq enters a political crisis to centralize the constitutional institutions. Iraqi analysts believe that the existing political system is a product of crises and must be modified to suit the changes and current circumstances.

BAGHDAD – Iraqi analysts see amending the Iraqi constitution and overcoming the obstacles it contains for the formation of constitutional institutions after each election, as the best solution for Baghdad to overcome its political crises.

The introduction of amendments to the Iraqi constitution requires a real political will to reform and to avoid a recurrence of the constitutional crisis after every election, which is not available now in light of a divided parliament and a sectarian conflict that seeks to appease supporters at the expense of serving the public interest.

The head of the Supreme Judicial Council in Iraq, Faeq Zaidan, called on Thursday to change some texts in the Iraqi constitution, which stand in the way of the constitutional authorities at every electoral entitlement, and to formulate them in a smooth manner commensurate with the political changes that the country has witnessed during the past 19 years.

Faiq Zeidan: The circumstances that accompanied the drafting of the 2005 constitution have changed

Zaidan said in statements to local media, “We see that the circumstances that accompanied the drafting of the provisions of the Iraqi constitution for the year 2005 at that time have changed, and a number of articles of the constitution have become an obstacle to the formation of constitutional authorities at every electoral entitlement.”

He added, “It is necessary to reconsider those constitutional texts, including the validity of Parliament sessions or the majority required to legislate laws.”

Zaidan stated that “the political differences between the coalitions and the winning parties in the elections caused many constitutional violations that are still ongoing, the most important of which is the passage of the legal period for naming a new president in the country, and accordingly the nomination of a prime minister, and this needs a constitutional amendment and setting a certain period for the formation of constitutional positions and benefits.”

Analysts stress that the real crisis in Iraq lies in the political system itself, and in its inability to ensure adherence to the constitution and the law, and the crisis of not respecting constitutional timings is only a manifestation of that crisis.

They point out that the political system is the main path to the process of reforming and building the state. The more this system is designed in a way that reflects its absorption of the state, its institutions and citizens as a whole, and not expresses the individual and subjective idiosyncrasies of groups and individuals, the more stimulating and effective the building process will be.

Analysts stress that building the state must be parallel to the process of correcting the imbalances and obstacles of the political system, so that the paths of democratic transformation are completed in all areas, because the steadfastness and sustainability of other building paths will be questionable and the chances of their failure will increase.

In order to avoid political crises, they suggest either creating a new, agreed upon political system that transcends the failures of the current parliamentary system, or amending and correcting this system and addressing the difficulties in its constitutional and political applications, in a way that works to harmonize it with the political, social, economic and cultural reality, and reduce all contradictions, intersections, sensitivities and blockages and misinterpretations of the nature of this system, and in this case, fundamental constitutional amendments are required.

The process of correcting imbalances, which is the scenario closest to reality, requires a review of the Iraqi constitution. The constitution is the most important paper that determines everything in the state and leads the process of construction, stability and sustainability later on. .

In Iraq, work is required either to make fundamental amendments to all the loopholes tested by political practice, with legal adaptations capable of keeping pace with the social and political transformations that Iraq has undergone, or to resolve many outstanding and interpretable articles, including Article 76 related to the interpretation of the most parliamentary bloc A number to make it consistent with the electoral system that was approved, which led to the adoption of the individual system mechanism for the highest votes with multiple constituencies in a single governorate, to resolve the problems of forming a government and before that assigning its president.

And also the resolution of the constitutional articles related to the mechanisms of the government’s resignation, the withdrawal of confidence from it, the role of the President of the Republic, the constitutional terms and what are the alternatives to not complying with those terms and what will happen, as well as stabilizing the position of the caretaker government and adapting its constitutional and legal status, and most important of all lifting the veto contained in Article 142 on amending the constitution He pledged it to the will of two-thirds of the voters of three provinces, and made the constitutional amendments by a majority of half plus one for all the voters of Iraq’s provinces, so that the Iraqi constitution would turn from a rigid constitution to a flexible and vital constitution that could be modified according to political, social and economic data.

The Sadrist movement (the winner of the legislative elections) caused an unprecedented upheaval in the Iraqi political arena when its deputies submitted their resignations from the Iraqi parliament, thus making the coordination framework (Shiite forces loyal to Iran) the largest bloc in Parliament with a majority of 123 deputies, and this will enable it to enter into negotiations to resolve the election A new president for the country and the nomination of a candidate to form the new Iraqi government.

The political differences between the coalitions and the winning parties in the elections caused many constitutional violations that are still ongoing

Al-Sadr insisted on forming a majority government with his allies, excluding the Iranian-backed forces, but he was unable to secure the two-thirds majority required to elect the next president, a necessary step that precedes naming and forming the new prime minister.

Observers believe that the current crisis in Iraq has taken a “curve for the worse” and that the resignation of the Sadrist bloc has “deepened the state of uncertainty” in the country.

They pointed out that the Sadrists’ threat to switch to the popular opposition instead of the political opposition, Iraq may enter a tunnel of unrest fueled by popular anger that may turn into street violence.

They considered that the Sadrist bloc’s leaving its seats in Parliament for the first time since 2005 was a “big gamble” by al-Sadr, the most influential Iraqi politician, noting his great ability to mobilize his supporters in the street and thwart any attempt by his opponents to form a government and move forward to complete any entitlements.

Dr. Raed Al-Azzawi, head of the Al-Amsar Center for Studies, ruled out the formation of an Iraqi government at the present time, pointing to the size of the obstacles that will hinder the formation of the new Iraqi government, whether it is a government of national unity, a majority government, an opposition government, or a consensus government.

Al-Azzawi made it clear that if either of them forms a new Iraqi government, the Sadrist movement and the coordinating framework will last only one year, due to the Iraqi street’s lack of confidence in the leaders and political elites.

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