Iraq's Constitutional Process: Shaping a Vision for the Country's Future (Arabic Edition)
Summary
- The process by which constitutions are made matters. In countries such as Iraq, the constitution-making process can be a transformational one that facilitates peace and stability. If not organized transparently and with public participation, however, the constitutional process runs the risk of further fracturing the country.
- From the time of the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's regime, there have been various positions advanced on the terms of a future Iraqi constitution, but little attention paid to the process by which this constitution will be made.
- The challenge will be for the elected National Assembly to organize this process, ideally through a set of interim rules to ensure transparency and to articulate fundamental constitutional principles, as done in many other countries.
- A constitutional commission for Iraq, composed of National Assembly members and supported by a secretariat of Iraqi professionals, should conduct civic education, broadly consult the population, and compile a draft constitution. There are many models from around the world for such a commission.
- The constitutional commission's education and consultation should reach out to all Iraqis, and should be given adequate time. The commission should engage in consensus drafting, and avoid relying on existing drafts.
- If invited to do so, the international community can play a beneficial role, which should be supportive of the commission's work, and could consist of providing neutral advisers to the commission. Governments should respect what is a sovereign Iraqi process.
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