By Judit Neurink

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The main articles in the Iraq’s constitution pertaining to federalism have not been implemented and this neglect has led to many of the problems facing the war-torn country today.

This was one of the conclusions of the University of Kurdistan-Hawler (UKH) forum titled “Iraqi Kurdistan and the Reshaping of the Middle East” and held in Erbil on Wednesday to mark the 10-year anniversary of the adoption of the Iraqi constitution.

Political scientist David Romano said if former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki had not – unconstitutionally – denied Sunni provinces the right to declare autonomy, much of the violence currently consuming Iraq might have been prevented.

“When Diyala province declared its intention to hold a referendum on becoming a region, he came with arrest warrants, there were demonstrations, and politicians had to flee,” said Romano, a professor at Missouri State University in the US.

“Maliki declared this intention as illegal, but he had no constitutional right to do so.”
Maliki also blocked the creation of regions by the provincial governments of Salahadin and Nineveh, Romano said, adding that at the same time the Iraqi Parliament refused to discuss a similar request by the Shiite province of Basra.

Articles in the constitution concerning the federal structure and the division of powers have been neglected, or interpreted in different ways between the federal and regional governments. This has led to problems such as the dispute over sharing oil revenues, Romano pointed out.

The Federacy Council, which according to the constitution was to be installed next to the Iraqi parliament, never came into existence – mainly because Kurdistan remained the only region in the federation.

“How can a federal system function without the two chambers of its legislative authority? Federations need multiple regions. If not, you end up in a situation of opposition between the one region and the federal government. And that is the story of Iraq of the past 10 years,” he said, referring to the conflicts between Baghdad and the Kurdistan region.

Romano reminded the audience of the fear that existed before the US toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003. First, the concern that organized violence – ruling by fear – would continue. He also said mentioned the worry that patronage, and buying loyalty would remain a fact of life.

Finally, he said the Saddam era was marked by concern the state would continue to use oil to increase its control over the people, just as it would also use ethnic and religious divisions to divide and rule.

He noted that things went very differently than expected in the post-Saddam era.
“The Americans set the scene by dismantling the army which left armed people out of work, and gave a carte blanche for revenge by imposing a de-Baathicifation policy. Even so, those worries appear to have come true,” Romano said.

The Kurdistan region has tried to make federalism work, he said, by “advising the province of Nineveh on how to make oil contracts and how to become a region.”

Romano added that “many Kurds work in Baghdad not as Kurds, but as Iraqis.” This remark prompted Vice Chancellor of UKH Khaled Salih to reproach Kurdish ministers and parliamentarians for not exercising their right to speak Kurdish during government business, even though it is designated in the constitution as one of the two languages of the Iraqi federation.

Political scientist Sherko Kirmanj, from the University of Utara Malaysia, promoted the idea of changing Iraq into a confederation – a system in which states work together.

“Sunni’s want their own region similar to the that of the Kurds, but the [Kurdistan Regional Government] has its own army, intelligence services and foreign policy. These elements are part of confederalism, so the Sunnis are asking for that rather than for federalism,” Kirmanj said.

He said the fact the world is bypassing Baghdad when dealing with the Kurds for weapons and ammunition, is an indication that confederalism is already partly in place. As is the use of three flags during official Kurdish visits – the Kurdish, Iraqi plus the one of the visiting nation.

He presented a roadmap to confederation with Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish areas, and Baghdad as a separate, metropolitan region with the confederation’s higher and a lower chambers of parliament. Kirmanj said each part would have its own head of region and its own army. The president of this confederacy would be appointed for five years, with the position rotating between different member states.

The Sunni provinces should join together, he said, instead of forming a number of separate regions, as one Sunni entity within the confederation would be more powerful.
Even the Shiite of Iraq are heading there, he said.

“They know they will not rule Kurdistan again and cannot hold on to the Sunni areas. Now it is just a matter of borders, territorial unity, which part belongs to whom. This will eventually be settled in some way or another.”

Rudaw