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Iraq: Divisive Federalism Debate Continues
14.9.2006
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PRAGUE, September
14, 2006 (RFE/RL) -- Iraqi political leaders are at
loggerheads this week over a proposal by a major
Shi'ite party for a draft law detailing the
mechanisms for establishing regional governments.
Representatives from the Supreme Council for the
Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI) attempted to put
the proposal before parliament on September 6, only
to have it postponed until September 10, when Sunni
Arab parliamentarians from the Iraqi Accordance
Front backed by supporters of Shi'ite cleric Muqtada
al-Sadr and members of the Islamic Virtue Party
refused to attend the parliament session in protest
of the draft.
The latter two parties, like SCIRI and Prime
Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Islamic Al-Da'wah Party,
belong to the Shi'ite-led United Iraqi Alliance, the
largest political bloc in the Council of
Representatives.
Media reports indicate that representatives from the
Iraqis List of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi
also oppose SCIRI's federalism proposal, as does the
Iraqi Front for National Dialogue, led by Salih al-Mutlaq. |
Iraqi Shiite leader
Abdel Aziz al-Hakim, the head of parliament's
largest bloc, Al-Hakim's SCIRI has been one of the
main proponents of federalism
Photo:AFP |
For its part, the Kurdistan Coalition supports the
proposal. Kurds have attributed the success of their
region to their 12 years of self-rule before the
fall of the Hussein regime.
Ultimately, parliamentarians decided to open up
discussions on federalism this week, but said
parliament would not formally review any drafts
until at least September 19.
Those opposed to the draft said they would submit
alternative draft laws that would support
decentralization in lieu of regional groupings.
Adnan al-Dulaymi said the Accordance Front's
proposal would include a call for the dissolution of
the Kurdish autonomous region.
National Unity Under Threat
For many Iraqis, the issue of federalism is highly
explosive and rooted in deep-seated fears of the
country's future direction. For some, SCIRI's
proposal equates to a first step towards the breakup
of the country and the establishment of an Islamic
state in south-central Iraq, closely allied with
Iran.
SCIRI and Al-Da'wah leaders contend that such
speculation is nothing more than a conspiracy theory
promoted by the very people who once coveted Iraq's
oil wealth. Both groups see federalism as a means of
overcoming their recent historical experience in
Iraq, placing the country's once-oppressed Shi'ite
community at the forefront of Iraqi politics where
they rightfully belong as the majority. Federalism
will guarantee Shi'a never again suffer under the
tyranny of a minority Sunni dictatorship, they
claim.
Detractors say the issue, coupled with the Shi'ite
insistence on pushing the issue through parliament
quickly, goes against previous agreements, including
the Accordance Front's support for the constitution
-- which enshrines the concept of federalism --
ahead of its ratification last year, in exchange for
a Shi'ite commitment to revisit federalism and other
constitutional issues following the formation of the
permanent government. The SCIRI proposal, Sunnis
claim, in essence reneges on that agreement.
The perception by Sunni Arabs that their trust has
been violated by Shi'ite leaders only threatens to
foster further sectarian conflict in Iraq. It is a
threat to Prime Minister al-Maliki's national-unity
government, as well as his administration's national
reconciliation project, which seeks to end the
insurgency.
Postponing Debate
According to Iraqi media reports, the UN has
suggested delaying debate over federalism for
another year. Meanwhile, Arab League
Secretary-General Amr Musa has called on Iraqis to
reach an agreement "which serves the goals of
accordance, reconciliation, and stability," that can
be implemented in a way that "maintains Iraq's
unity, safeguarding its territories and not its
partition."
How political groups ultimately decide to deal with
issue this week will give insight into how other hot
issues are resolved in the coming months. Until now,
the most contentious issues faced by the interim and
transitional governments have been postponed rather
than addressed head on.
Indeed, the prime minister may find that it is more
advantageous to resolve the more pressing issues of
the insurgency and national reconciliation before
taking on a topic so emotionally explosive for
Iraq's ethnic and sectarian groups.
However, it is unclear whether major issues could go
unresolved for his entire four-year administration.
At the very least, several articles of the
constitution would need to be amended in order to
accommodate such a decision.
Fierce Opposition For Various Reasons
While an array of political parties stand united in
their opposition to federalism, their reasons are
quite different. For Sadrists, the issue is
nationalistic. Al-Sadr and his supporters believe
that federalism in the south of Iraq will serve to
further fragment the country. Al-Sadr's opposition
to federalism is well-known, and his potential to
use the issue to exploit current sectarian tensions
apparently prompted SCIRI head Abd al-Aziz al-Hakim
to visit the cleric in Al-Najaf on September 10 in
an effort to, at the very least, convince him to not
oppose the draft law.
Sunni Arab leaders have put the issue in much the
same light as al-Sadr. Iraqi Accordance Front leader
Adnan al-Dulaymi told reporters at a September 9
press briefing in Baghdad said his bloc would "stand
in the face of those trying to dismember Iraq,"
adding, "Federalism is a prelude to partition."
Likewise, Sunni Arab Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi
called the SCIRI proposal a prescription to divide
Iraq.
Sunni Arabs' fear of federalism is also rooted in
the belief that they will be the losers in the
division of riches from Iraq's most precious
resource: oil.
All About Oil
A federal region established in the Shi'ite-dominated
areas of the south would likely encompass the nine
governorates that also happen to contain southern
Iraq's vast oil fields. That region, coupled with
the Kurdish region in the north, would leave Sunni
Arabs with the potential to form a region in the
governorates of Al-Anbar, Ninawah, Salah Al-Din, and
Diyala -- none of which are known to have any
substantial oil reserves.
Kirkuk Governorate, which borders the Kurdistan
region, does have vast oil reserves, and as such, is
highly contested among the Kurds, Arabs, and
Turkomans living there.
But neither the Baghdad nor Kirkuk governorates are
likely to join any regional grouping, the former
because of its mixed population and status as the
capital, and the latter because of the current
political climate, although Kurds would like to see
it incorporated into the Kurdish region.
Agreeing To Disagree
Shi'ite and Kurdish members of Prime Minister al-Maliki's
administration remain committed to the federalism
project. Government spokesman and Shi'ite leader Ali
al-Dabbagh told the website Ilaf in a September 3
interview that federalism would help create a more
democratic Iraq. The "federal system seeks to design
a system for distributing authority and not limiting
it to a certain group; a system that guarantees
broader participation, justice, and an
administrative system that has proven its
feasibility in many countries," he said.
Meanwhile, parliament speaker and Sunni Arab leader
Mahmud al-Mashhadani told "The Washington Post" that
federalism is all but dead, the daily reported on
September 13. He said it was likely that political
leaders meeting that day would postpone the topic
for another four years.
However, SCIRI head al-Hakim continues to push the
proposal. He asked Shi'ite religious leaders this
week to make federalism a central topic in their
prayer sermons during the holy month of Ramadan,
which is set to begin around September 24.
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