The 2005
Constitution of Iraq
The Constitution of the Republic of Iraq ( ar, دستور جمهورية العراق Kurdish: دەستووری عێراق) is the fundamental law of Iraq. The first constitution came into force in 1925. The current constitution was adopted on Se ...
defines
Iraq for the first time as a
federal
Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to:
Politics
General
*Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies
*Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...
country.
History
After the defeat of the
Ottoman Empire in 1919, Iraq became a
League of Nations mandate
A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administ ...
under temporary British control.
Mahmud Barzanji led a Kurdish revolt against the British and in 1922 attempted to establish a
state in northern Iraq. In 1924 the British defeated Mahmud, and the Mosul region was incorporated into the
Kingdom of Iraq
The Hashemite Kingdom of Iraq ( ar, المملكة العراقية الهاشمية, translit=al-Mamlakah al-ʿIrāqiyyah ʾal-Hāshimyyah) was a state located in the Middle East from 1932 to 1958.
It was founded on 23 August 1921 as the Kingdo ...
. After the British occupation, Kurdish leaders continued to press for autonomy within Iraq. In 1970 the Iraqi government agreed to create the
Kurdistan Region covering three provinces of northern Iraq.
After the end of the
Gulf War in 1991 the Kurdish region rose up against President
Saddam Hussein and gained ''de facto'' independence under the protection of a
no fly zone
A no-fly zone, also known as a no-flight zone (NFZ), or air exclusion zone (AEZ), is a territory or area established by a military power over which certain aircraft are not permitted to fly. Such zones are usually set up in an enemy power's te ...
. After the
American-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, the short-lived
Transitional Administrative Law
The Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period ( ar, قانون إدارة الدولة للفترة الانتقالية), also called the Transitional Administrative Law or TAL, was Iraq's provisional constitution fol ...
recognised the existing Kurdish regional government and defined Iraq for the first time as a federal country.
Article 118
Article 118 of the constitution of Iraq provided that no new region may be created before the Iraqi National Assembly has passed a law that provides the procedures for forming the region. This law was passed in October 2006 after an agreement was reached with the
Iraqi Accord Front
The Iraqi Accord Front or Iraqi Accordance Front (Arabic: جبهة التوافق العراقية ''Jabhet Al-Tawafuq Al-'Iraqiyah'') also known as Tawafuq is an Iraqi Sunni political coalition created on October 26, 2005 by the Iraqi Islamic Pa ...
to form the constitutional review committee and to defer implementation of the law for 18 months. Legislators from the
Iraqi Accord Front
The Iraqi Accord Front or Iraqi Accordance Front (Arabic: جبهة التوافق العراقية ''Jabhet Al-Tawafuq Al-'Iraqiyah'') also known as Tawafuq is an Iraqi Sunni political coalition created on October 26, 2005 by the Iraqi Islamic Pa ...
,
Sadrist Movement and
Islamic Virtue Party all opposed the bill.
Iraqi parliament approves federal law
'' Reuters'', 2006-10-11
Notes and references
Sources
*
Iraq
Government of Iraq
{{Iraq-stub