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Which one comes first, democracy or
federalism?
3.9.2010
By Hiwa Osman - ekurd.net |
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September 3, 2010
As things stand today, all indications suggest that
the revived Iraqi National Alliance, INA, will form
the government under the leadership of current prime
minister Nuri al-Maliki and will be joined by the
Kurds.
Iraqiya has declared that if this scenario occurs,
they will denounce the process as illegal. Some
Iraqiya leaders even suggested that they would
boycott the political process.
A boycott would send the political process in
Baghdad back to square one, throwing Iraq back into
the political turmoil it faced 2005.
At that time, the Shias and Kurds were
leading Iraq while the Sunnis remained on the
sidelines. This led to a three-year-long wave of
violence, terrorism and extremism that swept Baghdad
and stretched into other provinces.
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Hiwa Osman, IWPR Iraq’s country director, previously
served as Iraqi president Jalal Talabani’s media
adviser. |
It was a truly sectarian civil war,
the traces of which continue to haunt and threaten
us today.
To be sure, the same turmoil would emerge if Iraqiya
formed the government on its own with Ayad Allawi as
the prime minister, alienating the Shia-dominated
lists. And let’s not forget the Kurds -- they would
join his government as well.
A closer look at the two options makes it clear that
there is a serious mistrust not between Allawi and
Maliki -- or even between the Iraqiya and the INA ¬–
but rather between the Shia and Sunni Arabs of Iraq.
In addition to the discrimination, injustice and
atrocities committed against Iraq’s Shia before the
fall of Saddam, the lack of clarity and progress in
national reconciliation by today’s rulers have also
contributed to deepening the mistrust between the
two communities.
No concrete steps have been taken to achieve a true
national reconciliation. On the contrary, in the
weeks before the last election, the de-Ba’thification
committee headed by a leading Iraqi National
Congress member, Ali Allami – who is accused of
strong ties with Iran -- disqualified a number of
candidates for their past involvement with the Ba’th
Party. Most were from Iraqiya.
If there was a true will to move forward and a
confidence in a democratic system based on equality,
these candidates – who after all were entering the
democratic process through elections -- should have
been commended and brought into the fold of the new
Iraq rather than being driven back to the Baath
Party.
Although the Shia and Sunni communities lived
peacefully as neighbours in many regions of Iraq,
each appears to mistrust the political leadership
and military force of the other. Hence, both sides
fear or reject being ruled by the other.
But the dilemma for today’s Iraq is that a
government based in Baghdad would have to rule the
entire country -- and it will need to be either INA
or Iraqiya.
In any mature democracy, it is usually the case that
one bloc is in the government and the other is in
the opposition. Iraq’s democracy does not seem to be
ready for such a setup yet.
Each bloc fears being in the opposition, as being in
power seems to be the only guarantor for protection.
One interesting point to note here is that the Kurds
are not afraid of either bloc being in power. The
reason is that they rule their region alone and are
trying to work out a federal relationship with
Baghdad.
If the Sunnis and the Shia of Iraq had their own
federal regions, our democracy would have been solid
and the bickering over forming the government would
not have lasted this long.
The last six months demonstrated that for democracy
to be entrenched in Iraq it needs to have a truly
federal structure whereby each of Iraq’s communities
live in a region or regions that enjoy a federal
relationship with Baghdad.
Once this is in place, policies and issues would
replace personalities. Each community would worry
more about their federal status in Iraq as opposed
to who is ruling in Baghdad.
The leadership in Baghdad would worry more about
regulating the relationship with (and between) the
regions, including managing the delegation of power
regionally,www.ekurd.netas opposed to focusing on consolidating
all of the power in one city, in one office and with
one man.
The days of one man holding all of the power have
long gone. This is confirmed by the constitution,
and is something the politicians must come to
realize. The irony here is that the same people who
are calling for a strong, centralised state are
going to be harmed most by this centralisation.
Hiwa Osman
is IWPR’s country director in Iraq, previously served as
Iraqi president Jalal Talabani’s media adviser. You
can visit his Blog at hiwaosman.blogspot.com
Copyright © 2010 ekurd.net
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