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Iraq: Presidential power spark controversy
12.1.2006
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Baghdad, 11 Jan.
(AKI) - Iraq's president Jalal Talabani's demand
that he be given greater powers if he is to accept a
second term of office, has triggered a heated
political debate in the country, and mixed reactions
from observers and experts interviewed by Adnkronos
International (AKI). "Iraq's new constitution is not
based on a presidential system of government, such
as that of France of the United States," an expert
in Iraqi politics, Tarqi Harb, told AKI.
"Iraqis fear a return to totalitarian rule if power
is concentrated in the hands of any single
individual. At the same time, the constitution
grants numerous power to the president, including
that of nominating the prime minister, allowing
parliament to reject him, and repeal laws, provided
three-fifths of the legislature plus one MP votes in
favour of doing so," Harb continued. |
Iraqi
President : Jalal Talabani
Photo: Reuters
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Commenting on remarks made by Talabani's spokesman,
Kamran Qaradaghi that legal and juridical channels
exist to increase the president's power, Harb said:
"The question should be debated in the parliament's
next sitting, but any change to the constitution
must be approved by two-thirds of its members."
Another expert in Iraqi politics, Tariq al-Adili
told AKI that Talabani is currently the person who
is best qualified to be Iraq's president, given his
experience and his political astuteness. "Seeing
that he is at the pinnacle of Iraqi government, he
has every right to ask for greater powers, because
he represents Iraq in eyes of its people and those
of the world," said al-Adili.
Final results of Iraq's mid-December poll, the first
held to elect a full-term 275-member parliament
since the country's former president and dictator,
Saddam Hussein, fell from power in 2003, are still
pending, but the Shiite-dominated governing United
Iraqi Alliance slate is poised to win, according to
observers.
"While the United Iraqi Alliance backs Talabani's
candidacy for the presidency, it is the constitution
that determines his powers, and some of these cannot
be overridden or modified," a member of the United
Iraqi Alliance slate told AKI, speaking on condition
of anonymity.
www.adnki.com
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