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| Author: | David L. Phillips, Executive Director, The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity |
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April 13, 2005
Financial Times
Now that Iraqi politicians, after nearly 10 weeks of agonising debate, have agreed on the division of responsibilities, the real fight for power begins - over the drafting of Iraq's permanent constitution.
Iraqis should make every effort to meet the August 15 deadline for finalising the charter. The national assembly must move quickly to compose a constitutional commission and define procedures for public participation. More importantly, Iraqis must have the opportunity to debate and thereby assume ownership of the final document. If a draft is not ready within 90 days, the assembly should, in compliance with the transitional administrative law, consider a delay of up to six months.
Most Iraqis agree that the system of government should be republican, federal, democratic and pluralistic. They agree on the need for a separation of powers with checks and balances. Many also agree that the best way to balance competing demands for democracy and unity is through a federal structure that assigns specific authorities to the central government - such as national defence, fiscal policy and foreign affairs - while decentralising power to regional and local governments. For power-sharing to work properly, the underlying presumption should be that powers are reserved for federal Iraqi states unless specifically allocated to the central government.
The "new Iraq" should be divided into five or six federal Iraqi states, one of them Baghdad. While reflecting the importance that Iraqis place on communalism these states must be established using geographic, not ethnic, criteria. The status of Kirkuk, the northern city claimed by Kurds, Arabs and Turkmen alike, should be clarified through constitutional negotiations. Deferring a decision on Kirkuk would merely inflame ethnic tensions and invite meddling by Iraq's neighbours. The United Nations, meanwhile, should assist the return of displaced persons to Kirkuk, conduct a census and organise a referendum on whether it should become part of Iraqi Kurdistan.
In this likely event, the Kurds should make concessions in order to show that federalism is not a pit-stop on the path to independence. The national government should control Iraq's oil wealth and return a share to the regions based on population percentages. Kurdish "peshmerga" fighters should be renamed and co-opted into national, state and local security structures. To guard against abuses, each federal Iraqi state should have responsibility for public security, with police reflecting the ethnic composition of the communities they serve.
Federalism goes hand-in-hand with guarantees of minority rights. To safeguard the interests of Iraqi Turkmen and Chaldo-Assyrians, the northern Christian minority, the constitution should include a bill of individual rights and measures to protect and promote group rights. Consistent with the principle of decentralisation, power should be devolved to states and down to municipality level, local authorities adopting legislation conforming to local custom as long as laws do not contradict the constitution or those enacted by the national parliament.
Decentralisation can also help resolve the debate over Islam's role in Iraqi governance. The constitution should reflect Iraqis' Muslim identity by making Islam the official religion and requiring federal legislation to be consistent with Islamic law. But the constitution should not require the application of Islamic law to family matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance. Family law should be left to federal Iraqi states.
For Iraq to be viable, members of the Arab Sunni minority must be guaranteed participation in negotiating the constitution, and must believe they can advance their goals through the establishment of a federal Iraqi state in Sunni-dominated central and western Iraq. While the region may lack oil, revenue-sharing would assure them a portion of Iraq's energy wealth. Arab Shia, meanwhile, must continue to show restraint as seeking domination would simply fuel the Arab Sunni insurgency.
Iraq's elections were indeed a watershed but it is vital to maintain perspective. Democracy involves much more than voting and is equally about the distribution of political power through laws that guarantee accountable rule. Only a legitimate process restoring full sovereignty can inspire confidence among Iraqis in their governing institutions and encourage them to confront the insurgency.
The writer, a senior fellow and deputy director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations, is author of the forthcoming book, "Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco" (Westview Press).
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