Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq between 10 December 1936 and 20 February 1937 to elect the members of

Chamber of Deputies of Iraq The Chamber of Deputies of Iraq (''Majlis an-Nuwwab'') was the elected lower house of the bicameral parliament established by the Mandatory Iraq's 1925 constitution. There were initially 87 deputies, who were elected The Chamber of Deputies remai ...

Background

After the 1936 military coup led by

Bakr Sidqi Bakr Sidqi al-Askari (; 1890 – 11 August 1937) was an Iraqi general of mixed Arab- Kurdish origin, Sidqi, the Chief of the Iraq General Staff of the nation's military, was born in 1890 and assassinated on 11 August 1937, in Mosul. a Kurdish ...

, disagreement between the parliament led by deposed Prime Minister Yasin al-Hashimi and the left-leaning military government presided over by Hikmat Sulayman, led to the dissolution of parliament on 31 October 1936. The new elections started in December 1936 and were complete by 20 February 1937.

Results

A bloc supportive of coup leader Bakr Sidqi and members of the leftist Popular Reform Party won the elections and were the most prominent political groups in the new parliament. Both groups supported Hikmat Sulayman's government. The new parliaments also included military officers, tribal leaders, nationalists and independent members. Later, the Popular Reform Party was accused of having communist ideology, and was dissolved.

Aftermath

Bakr Sidqi and another coup leader were assassinated on 11 August 1937 in

Mosul Mosul ( ; , , ; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of Nineveh Governorate. It is the second largest city in Iraq overall after the capital Baghdad. Situated on the banks of Tigris, the city encloses the ruins of the ...

, and their funerals were held the next day."Iraq Militarists Shot by Soldier at 'Plane Base
�� Defence Minister, Air Force Chief Assassinated at Sunset", ''Toronto Daily Star'', August 12, 1937, p.21 ("Jerusalem, Aug. 12— (UP)— Reports from Bagdad to-day said Bekr Sidki Pasha, Iraq minister defence, and Col. Mohamed Ali Jawad, chief of Iraq's air force, had been assassinated. The reports said a soldier shot the two men at the Mosul airport at sunset yesterday.") After losing the support of the military, Sulayman resigned on 17 August 1937. Parliament was dissolved on 26 August 1937 and fresh elections were held on 18 December 1937.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1936-1937 Iraqi parliamentary election

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Parliamentary In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

Parliamentary elections in Iraq December 1936 in Asia February 1937 in Asia