Iraqi Constitution of 2005

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The Iraqi constitution of 2005 was adopted by referendum on October 15, 2005 . It replaced the previous transitional constitution. After some delays due to the need for recounts in the Sunni province of Ninawa , it was officially accepted with 78%.

The commission that drafted the constitution was often faced with seemingly insoluble decisions. Because in the commission, the representatives of the Sunnis faced a number of times to withdraw. As a result, the Sunni Iraqis would have voted no and the constitution would not have been adopted. In the end, only three of the eighteen Sunni representatives took part in the signature ceremony; no one signed the draft constitution. On August 28, 2005, however, the draft was submitted to Parliament and adopted.

Constitutional referendum

The dispute over the count in the Sunni province of Ninawa is not only confusing for Iraqis . The governor of the province had reported the official result of the count in his province to Baghdad: it said there “that the draft for a new constitution there had been rejected by a large majority of the electorate and thus also failed overall”. The electoral commission in Baghdad denied it. Its spokesman, Farid Ajar , told the waiting journalists: "We have not yet received a result and no one except the independent electoral commission has the right to publish results." The publication was postponed because there were "problems with the counting". Condoleezza Rice later stated that the constitution was "likely adopted"; a solo effort that caused displeasure among official bodies. The topic disappeared completely from media reports for a short time.

After doubts arose as to whether the constitution had not been rejected by three provinces, the news agencies reported on October 25, 2005 that the draft constitution had been approved; In the province of Ninawa, 55% of the electorate rejected the constitution, missing the two-thirds majority that would have made their province the decisive factor in a final rejection. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung wrote: "The recount in Nineveh yet confirmed the doubts about the original for this province announced finding that the Constitution there by 78 percent of voters believed was".

The type of reporting and the circumstances of the recount make election fraud appear possible. Saleh al-Mutlaq , one of the Sunni negotiators, spoke to the BBC of a “farce”. George W. Bush, on the other hand, praised the result and viewed it as new evidence that "the Iraqis will build a democracy united against extremism and violence".

content

preamble

In the name of God, Most Gracious, Most Merciful
"Verily we have honored the children of Adam" ( Quran 17:70 )
We, the sons of Mesopotamia, land of the prophets, resting place of the holy imams , leaders in civilization and inventors of the alphabet , cradle of arithmetic: in our land the first applied law of mankind was written; in our nation the noblest period of justice has been established in the politics of nations; on our soil the followers of the Prophet prayed and the saints, the philosophers and the scientists wrote theories, and the writers and poets created their works.
In recognition of the divine right over us; obeying the call of our nation and our citizens; Following the call of our religious and national leaders and the perseverance of our great religious authorities and our leaders and reformers, we went to the ballot box by the millions for the first time in our history, men and women, young and old, on January 30th, 2005 and commemorated at the same time the painful experience of the fanatical oppression of the majority by the despotic group; spurred on by the suffering of the martyrs of Iraq - Sunnis and Shiites , Arabs , Kurds and Turkomans , and the remaining brothers in all communities - spurred on by the injustice against the holy cities in popular uprising and against the swamps and other places; in memory of the death struggles of national oppression in the massacres of Halabja , Barzan , Anfal and against the Faili Kurds ; Spurred on by the tragedies of the Turkomans in Bashir and the suffering of the people in the western region who wanted to take the terrorists and their allies hostage and prevent them from participating in the elections and building a society of peace, brotherhood and cooperation with us Create a new Iraq, an Iraq of the future, without fanaticism, racial conflicts, regionalism, discrimination or isolation.
Terrorism and takfir (the term other than unbelievers) have not prevented us from moving forward to build a nation of justice. Fanaticism and racism have not stopped us from marching together to strengthen our national unity, to establish ways of peaceful transfer of power, to appropriate ways of equitable distribution of wealth and equal opportunities for all.
We, the people of Iraq, risen from our disasters and with a confident view of the future through a democratic, federal, republican system, are determined - men and women, young and old - to recognize the rule of law, the politics of aggression to reject women and their rights, to respect the elderly and their needs, to children and to their affairs, to spread the culture of diversity and to defuse terrorism .
We are the people of Iraq and we undertake to establish our connection in all our forms and groupings freely and of our own choice, to learn from the lessons of the past for the future, this permanent constitution from the perspective of the high values ​​and ideals of the heavenly messages and the developments of science and human civilization and to adhere to this constitution, which is to preserve the free union of people, land and sovereignty of Iraq.

Chapter One: Basic Principles

The most important points are:

  • Iraq is an independent nation and its form of government is democratic , federal and representative.
  • The Islam is the state religion and a basis of legislation. No law may be passed that violates the rules of Islam and its legal system.
  • No law may be passed that violates the principles of democracy. ( Religious freedom should be granted)
  • The state is a multiethnic nation and has Arabic and Kurdish as state languages . In addition, the other languages ​​such as Turkmen and Syriac-Aramaic can be taught as the official language in the individual regions.
  • Terrorism, ethnic cleansing and the Ba'ath Party are prohibited
  • Iraq is part of the Arab Islamic world.
  • The state has an army that is under civil command.

Chapter Two: Rights and Freedoms

Every Iraqi person has the right to religious freedom, education, health care, personal freedom, the rule of law and freedom of movement.

Chapter Three: The Federal Authorities

This chapter is divided into four parts, namely:

  • Legislative : The legislative power should consist of the Council of Representatives and the Federal Council .
  • Executive : The executive is the responsibility of the President and the Council of Ministers and should act in accordance with the Constitution and the law.
  • Judiciary
  • Independent institutions

Chapter Four: Rights of the Federal Authorities

The federal government has exclusive rights in the following areas:

  • Foreign policy
  • Defense policy
  • Finances
  • Postal system, radio, standards
  • budget
  • Water and oil policy
  • Welfare programs

In addition, the other rights are determined together with the regional governments, such as electricity, environmental policy, health care and education.

Chapter Five

The chapter describes the duties and rights of the autonomous regional governments. Either each individual province can be seen as autonomous or several provinces merge to form a region. A two-thirds majority in the provincial government or a tenth of the population in the affected provinces is sufficient. At the moment there is only the Kurdish Autonomous Region . A Shiite region is planned in southern Iraq, which will consist of three provinces.

Others

The newly created rights of foreign capital investors have hardly been discussed in public perception. While the Ba'ath regime in 1972 z. For example, nationalizing the country's oil wealth and stipulating Iraqi majorities in oil companies, the new Iraqi constitution - like the transitional constitution previously enacted by the USA - enables foreign investors to acquire 100% of companies in this key industry.

Results from October 15, 2005

province Voter count Yes No
al-Anbar 259.919 3.04% 96.96%
Erbil 830.570 99.36% 0.64%
Babil 543.779 94.56% 5.44%
Baghdad 2,120,615 77.70% 22.30%
Basra 691.024 96.02% 3.98%
Dahuk 389.198 99.13% 0.87%
Dhi Qar 463.710 97.15% 2.85%
Diyala 259.919 96.96% 3.04%
Karbala 264,674 96.58% 3.42%
Kirkuk 542,688 62.91% 37.09%
Maisan 254.067 97.79% 2.21%
al-Muthanna 185.710 98.65% 1.35%
Najaf 299,420 95.82% 4.18%
Ninawa 718.758 44.92% 55.08%
al-Qadisiya 297.176 96.74% 3.26%
Salah ad-Din 510.152 18.25% 81.75%
as-Sulaimaniya 723.723 98.96% 1.04%
al-Wasit 280.128 95.70% 4.30%
total 9,852,291 78.59% 21.41%

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b [1] (tagesschau.de archive)
  2. ^ Iraqi constitution adopted , Neue Zürcher Zeitung of October 27, 2005.
  3. ^ A b Iraq voters back new constitution , BBC of October 25, 2005.
  4. ^ Constitution of Iraq
  5. ↑ Kenan Engin: Study on Conflict Management in Iraq . Saarbrücken 2010, ISBN 978-3-639-23766-5
  6. ^ Constitution of Iraq, Article 46
  7. ^ Constitution of Iraq, Article 63