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According to the constitution of Iraq, the Republic of Iraq is composed of federal regions, governorates, as well as local administrations. Article 117 of the constitution recognises the Kurdistan Region as a federal region, and as of December 2024, it is the only federal region of the country.

Overview

The post-2005 Iraqi federal model of governance as outlined by the constitution emphasizes decentralization and devolution of power from the federal government to administrative divisions, that is, governorates and regions. One or more governorates in Iraq may organize into a region based on a request to be voted on in a referendum submitted in one of the following two methods: a request by one-third of the council members of each governorate intending to form a region, or a request by one-tenth of the voters in each of the governorates intending to form a region.

Authorities

Section four of the constitution defines the exclusive powers of the Federal government and section five defines the authorities of the federal regions. It does not explicitly describe the federal regions as possessing "autonomy", however. The authorities of the regions are divided into two kinds: shared authorities, that is, authorities that the regions exercise with the federal government such as formulating public educational policy; and region-specific authorities, that is, authorities that are neither of the first kind nor are exclusive federal powers. The constitution has devolved the authority to exercise "executive, legislative, and judicial powers in accordance with Constitution" to federal regions in those areas outside of the federal government's exclusive jurisdiction. In other words, the regions are allowed to pass and apply their own laws in non-federal matters as long as they don't contradict with the constitution. Examples of exclusive federal government authorities are ratifying international treaties and formulating foreign policy. Disputes between the federal government, governorates and regions and the matter of ruling on constitutionality of all laws are settled by the Federal Supreme Court.

Issues

Federation Council

The constitution stipulates in article 65, that "A legislative council shall be established named the "Federation Council," to include representatives from the regions and the governorates that are not organized in a region. A law, enacted by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Council of Representatives, shall regulate the formation of the Federation Council, its membership conditions, its competencies, and all that is connected with it". This would theoretically serve as the upper house of a bicameral legislature, and facilitate the passing of laws that pertain to issues related to regional and provincial authorities and governance. As of December 2024, the Federation Council has not been created, which entails that the federal model in Iraq has not been completely implemented, i.e. the constitutional guarantee of decentralization has not been fully realized.

Growing centralism

Due to recent developments, the future of the federal model in Iraq has been questioned. One of the most prominent example of this is in September 2023, when (according to Al-Monitor) the Prime Minister of Iraq's only federal region, Masrour Barzani sent a private letter to the President of the United States urging him to intervene, stating: "I write to you now at another critical juncture in our history, one that I fear we may have difficulty overcoming. …e are bleeding economically and hemorrhaging politically. For the first time in my tenure as prime minister, I hold grave concerns that this dishonorable campaign against us may cause the collapse of … the very model of a Federal Iraq that the United States sponsored in 2003 and purported to stand by since". This came after the federal government stopped oil exports from the northern federal region after winning an international arbitration case, dealing a massive blow to the federal region's economy. Furthermore, it has lost authorities it used to possess due to calculated actions by the federal government, signaling the federal government's intent to return of pre-2005 centralism and reassert control.

References

1. Constitution of Iraq, Article 116
2. Ibid., Article 122
3. Ibid., Article 119
4. Ibid., Section 5
5. Ibid., Article 110
6. Ibid., Article 93
7. "Iraq's Missing Federation Council". The Tahrir Institute.
8. "In letter to Biden, Barzani warns of Iraqi Kurdistan's collapse, urges mediation". Al-monitor.
9. "Iraq and the Demise of Federalism". Wilson Center.
10. "A House Divided: Can Kurdistan Preserve Its Autonomy?". The Washington Institute.
11. "Why is the Kurdistan Region losing so much autonomy to Baghdad". The National News.
12. "Iraqi Kurdistan is set to lose much of its autonomy". Oxford Analytica.
13. "Kurdistan's Fading Dream: The Struggle and Despair Behind Erbil-Baghdad Relations". Gulf International Forum.

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