Iraq's Constitutional Challenge

Baghdad/Brussels  |   13 Nov 2003

In an atmosphere of heightened violence and instability, Iraq urgently requires a new political formula. The U.S. Administration, increasingly alarmed at the turn of events, is considering a range of options. This will be its second chance to get it right; there may not be a third. 

The International Crisis Group’s new report, Iraq’s Constitutional Challenge,* argues that the key to a more successful transition lies in decoupling the immediate need to transfer governing authority from the longer-term task of constitution making, with the UN having a wider oversight role in both areas. 

“The transfer of authority is pressing, as is the broadening of the Iraqi Governing Council’s political base”, says Robert Malley, ICG’s Middle East and North Africa Program Director. “But the constitution-making process must be done deliberately or it will be done poorly, and dangerously.”

Neither unduly rushing the constitutional process nor unduly postponing the transfer of political power is desirable. Separating immediate governance from constitutional issues will enable a faster handover of authority while allowing the Iraqi people more time to debate the permanent institutions and fundamental rules of the new Iraq.

Indications on the ground are that the constitutional process will require considerable time if it is to succeed. ICG’s interviews with members of the Interim Governing Council and the Constitutional Preparatory Committee as well as other political actors in Iraq make clear that Iraqis are only just beginning to contemplate and discuss the desired content of, and the steps required for, a new constitution. Iraqis are sharply divided over the most fundamental issues relating to the nature of their future state and the governmental system that is to rule it, including the distribution of power between the centre and the regions, the territorial divisions within the country, and the role of Islam.

As the constitutional process proceeds, it is imperative the Interim Governing Council be broadened to include social and political forces that are either not represented or under-represented. This expanded Interim Governing Council should become a Transitional Government of National Unity, which, working through its appointed cabinet, would have full authority over civilian government issues.   In order for the new government to enjoy greater domestic and international legitimacy, this process will need to be overseen by the UN.

In the end, Iraqis have to feel the new institutions are theirs. Iraqi political parties, civil society organisations, and professional associations should engage in vigorous debates on constitutional issues, and the Iraqi media must cover the constitutional process aggressively and constructively.

“The constitutional endeavour is and should be a strictly Iraqi-owned project”, says Joost Hiltermann, ICG Middle East Project Director. “The U.S. and other states should resist the temptation of interference or, worse, micro-management”.