The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of

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 ...

from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

-led

Coalition Provisional Authority The Coalition Provisional Authority (; , CPA) was a Provisional government, transitional government of Iraq established following the 2003 invasion of Iraq, invasion of the country on 19 March 2003 by Multi-National Force – Iraq, U.S.-led Co ...

(CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi political and tribal leaders who were appointed by the CPA to provide advice and leadership of the country until the June 2004 transfer of sovereignty to the Iraqi Interim Government (which was replaced in May 2005 by the Iraqi Transitional Government, which was then replaced the following year by the first permanent government). The Council consisted of 25 members. Its ethnic and religious breakdown included 13 Shias, five Sunnis, five

Kurd Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

s (also Sunnis), one Turkmen and an Assyrian. Three of its members were women. In September 2003, the Iraqi Governing Council gained regional recognition from the

Arab League The Arab League (, ' ), officially the League of Arab States (, '), is a regional organization in the Arab world. The Arab League was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945, initially with seven members: Kingdom of Egypt, Egypt, Kingdom of Iraq, ...

, which agreed to seat its representative in Iraq's chair at its meetings. On 1 June 2004, the Council dissolved after choosing member

Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawar (, born 1958) is an Iraqi politician. He was the Vice President of Iraq, vice president under the Iraqi Transitional Government in 2006, and was interim president of Iraq under the Iraqi Interim Government from 2004 to ...

as the president of the new Iraq interim government. Full sovereignty was transferred to the interim government (and the CPA dissolved) on 28 June.

General information

Though subject to the authority of the CPA administrator Paul Bremer, the council had several key powers of its own. Their duties included appointing representatives to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, appointing interim ministers to Iraq's vacant cabinet positions, and drafting a temporary

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, the Transitional Administrative Law (TAL). The TAL spelled out the provisions which were to govern the Iraqi Interim Government, and the timeline for holding elections to a National Assembly, drafting of a permanent constitution to be voted on by the Iraqi people, and elections to a permanent government. Despite having to answer to the CPA, different factions took on controversial stands. Religious hardliners won a solid victory when Directive 137 was passed on 29 December 2003. Passed by the council in less than 15 minutes, it replaced Iraq's former secular family law code with

Shari'a Sharia, Sharī'ah, Shari'a, or Shariah () is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition based on Islamic holy books, scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran, Qur'an and hadith. In Islamic terminology ''sharīʿah'' ...

family law. This move met with wide protest among many Iraqi women fearful of how it will affect their freedom to make their own decisions about marriage, alimony, and many other issues where Iraq used to be a leader in the Arab world for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and Entitlement (fair division), entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st c ...

. Other legislation passed by the council included declaring the day that

Baghdad Baghdad ( or ; , ) is the capital and List of largest cities of Iraq, largest city of Iraq, located along the Tigris in the central part of the country. With a population exceeding 7 million, it ranks among the List of largest cities in the A ...

fell to be a national holiday, voting to establish a tribunal to try former government leaders, and banning television stations which are deemed to be supportive of the resistance. A new flag chosen by the council for post-Saddam Iraq created much controversy, in part because of the similarity of color and design with the

flag of Israel The flag of the State of Israel ( ; ) was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the Israeli Declaration of Independence. It consists of a white background with a blue Star of David in the centre and two horizontal blue stripes at the ...

, and the flag was not adopted. According to the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period, the interim

that the Council approved, the Council would cease to function after 30 June 2004, at which point full sovereignty would return to Iraq, and the government will be handed over to a new, sovereign interim government. Instead, the council chose to dissolve itself prematurely.

Presidents of the Iraqi Governing Council

Council Members

The Presidency of the council rotated monthly among eleven of its members. A (p) marks those members above.

Cabinet

On 1 September 2003, the council named its first cabinet. *Minister of Communications – Haider al-Abadi *Minister of Public Works – Nisrin Barwari *Minister of Construction and Housing – Baqir Jabr al-Zubeidi *Minister of the Environment – Abderrahman Sadik Karim *Minister of Trade – Ali Allawi *Minister of Planning – Mahdi al-Hafez *Minister of Education – Alaa Abdessaheb al-Alwan *Minister of Higher Education – Ziad Abderrazzak Mohammad Aswad *Minister of Culture – Mufid Mohammad Jawad al-Jazairi *Minister of Human Rights – Abdel Basset Turki (resigned April 2004) *Minister of Foreign Affairs – Hoshyar Zebari *Minister of Interior – Nuri Badran (resigned April 2004 and replaced by Samir Sumaidaie) *Minister of Agriculture – Abdel Amir Abbud Rahima *Minister of Sport and Youth – Ali Faik al-Ghabban *Minister of Health – Dr. Khodayyir Abbas *Minister of Industry and Minerals – Mohammad Tofiq Rahim *Minister of Justice – Hashim Abderrahman al-Shibli *Minister of Science and Technology – Rashad Mandan Omar *Minister of Work and Social Affairs – Sami Azara al-Majun *Minister of Electricity – Aiham Alsammarae *Minister of Finance – Kamel al-Kilani *Minister of Immigration and Refugees – Mohammad Jassem Khodayyir *Minister of Water Resources – Latif Rashid *Minister of Oil – Ibrahim Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum *Minister of Transport – Bahnam Zaya Bulos The Saddam-era positions of Minister of Defense and Minister of Information were dissolved.

References

{{Authority control Governing Council Coalition Provisional Authority 2003 establishments in Iraq 2004 disestablishments in Iraq