Constitution-Making in Iraq

In: Dissent: a journal devoted to radical ideas and the values of socialism and democracy, Band 51, Heft 2, S. 21-28

Abstract

An alternative to the George W. Bush administration's strategy for establishing democratic institutions in post-Saddam Hussein Iraq is presented. It is contended that the Bush administration did not want to facilitate the creation of a populist democracy in postwar Iraq since a populist democratic model would have permitted the incorporation of Islam into the nation's democratic institutions. However, it is stressed that the Bush administration's Iraqi policy has determined that one of two governments will likely be established in postwar Iraq: an undemocratic constitutionalist government or a populist democracy. Indeed, the agreement between the Coalition Provisional Authority & the Governing Council that was selected to govern postwar Iraq to hand over authority to a provisional Iraqi government was deemed a significant mistake. The extent to which the UN's Feb 2004 diagnosis of the Iraqi political situation addressed the shortcomings of the aforementioned agreement is then considered; it is predicted that the Governing Council's interim constitution will not last for an extended period of time & that the UN report should have acknowledged this. It is concluded that the inclusion of a minority veto provision in the interim constitution could jeopardize national stability & reignite hostilities toward the US. J. W. Parker