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| Author: | David L. Phillips, Executive Director, The Elie Wiesel Foundation for Humanity |
|---|
April 2005
44 pages
Council Special Report No. 6
Iraq’s elections on January 30, 2005, were a watershed in the country’s history. Still, democracy involves much more than voting. It is about the distribution of political power through institutions and laws that guarantee accountable rule. The real fight for power will be over Iraq’s permanent constitution.
Some common ground already exists: 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 and for checks and balances. Reflecting the Muslim character of Iraqis, many believe that Islam should be the official religion of Iraq and laws adopted by the national government within the scope of its authority should be consistent with Islamic law. Consensus is also emerging on assigning the national government specific powers to:
· Manage foreign affairs, diplomatic representation, and international treaties;
· Set foreign economic, trade, and debt policies;
· Assert border control, customs collection, and taxation;
· Formulate fiscal policy, issue currency, manage the central bank, and impose taxes;
· Issue commercial regulations and ensure unimpeded trade between federal Iraqi states;
· Promulgate telecommunications and transport rules;
· Command the armed forces to protect Iraq and maintain national security; and
· Manage the energy sector. (Note: It is envisioned that the federal government would retain a portion of oil revenues to pay for its operations with the balance distributed to federal Iraqi states based on their population percentage.)
In the new Iraq, federal Iraqi states should control all affairs not explicitly assigned to the federal government. Federal Iraqi states should be established using geographic not ethnic criteria. Since states will include minorities, protection of individual and group rights is critical to intergroup relations. Consistent with the principle of decentralization, federal Iraqi state and local authorities should have the ability to adopt laws that conform to local custom. Iraqi women should be guaranteed the right to vote and one-third of the seats in the National Assembly.
Based on geographic not ethnic criteria, and to enhance the sense among Iraqis that they are managing their own affairs, Iraq should be divided into five or six federal Iraqi states, one of which would be Baghdad. Each federal Iraqi state should be made up of not less than three governorates. Two or three federal Iraqi states could be composed from the southern and central provinces of Basra, Dhiqar, Maysan, al-Muthanna, Najaf, Wasit, Babil, Karbala, and Qadisyah. A central and western federal Iraqi state unit could include the provinces of al-Anbar, Nineveh, Salahuddin, and Diyala. A northern federal Iraqi state called Iraqi Kurdistan could include the provinces of Erbil, Suleimania, and Dohuk. (Note: The United Nations [UN] has expertise assisting the political transition of post-conflict countries and could assist the return of displaced persons to parts of Ta’amim, Diyala, Nineveh, Suleimania, and Salahuddin provinces before a census and popular referendum determine governorate and federal Iraqi state affiliations.) [1]
The need for local militias will decrease as Iraq’s armed forces and police develop greater capabilities. Anticipating progress in developing Iraqi security forces, Kurdish and Shi’a leaders should allow the Peshmerga, Badr Brigade, and other protection forces to be renamed and co-opted into national government, federal Iraqi state, and local security structures. In this event, their members should enlist in the Iraqi army (i.e., “Iraqi Civilian Defense Corps”); join the federal Iraqi state civilian defense forces (i.e., “Constabulary”); perform policing functions (i.e., “Carabineri”); or retire with pension. Other than national defense and border control, each federal Iraqi state should have responsibility for public security and safety, with local police reflecting the ethnic composition of the communities in which they serve.
· Maintain a dialogue with all Iraqi political parties, impressing upon them the repercussions of dominance by any one group, and the risk of sectarian or ethnic conflict escalating to civil war;
· Assist Iraqi efforts, as requested, in drafting and building national consensus in support of the constitution;
· Convene a follow-up to the international conference ofNovember 23, 2004, in order to establish an international “Contact Group” consisting of UN Security Council permanent members, major donors, and front-line states;
· Support a role for the UN providing resources and legal expertise to assist drafting of the constitution, coordinate input from international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and facilitate a national dialogue on the constitution; and
· Urge Iraq’s government to use a combination of carrots and sticks to encourage more constructive contributions by Iraq’s neighbors.
This publication was made possible in part by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author.
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David L. Phillips is a senior fellow and deputy director of the Center for Preventive Action at the Council on Foreign Relations. In addition to his current position at the Council, Phillips is a visiting scholar at Harvard University ’s Center for Middle East Studies, and a scholar in residence and director of the Program on Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding at American University ’s Center for Global Peace. He has worked extensively on Iraq issues since 1988, when he served as president of the Congressional Human Rights Foundation. From 1999–2003, Phillips was a senior adviser to the U.S. Department of State Bureau for European and Canadian Affairs and a foreign affairs expert at the Bureau for Near Eastern Affairs. He was the architect and facilitator of the Democratic Principles Working Group, which was part of the interagency Future of Iraq Project. During the Iraq War, Phillips was an analyst for NBC News. He has published extensively on Iraq and its environs in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the International Herald Tribune, the Los Angeles Times, and Foreign Affairs.He is the author of Losing Iraq: Inside the Postwar Reconstruction Fiasco (Westview Press/Perseus Books Group, 2005).
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