Iraq: A country notorious for its democracy - opinion
Post-Saddam Iraq has suffered from poor governance. The new, democratic Iraq is rife with bribery, kickbacks, and embezzlement, a routine part of its corrupt politics.
By HEYRSH ABDULRAHMANCHILDREN COLLECT recyclable garbage at a dump in Najaf, Iraq, last year.(photo credit: ALAA AL-MARJANI/REUTERS)
Iraq is notorious for its democracy. As a democracy, Iraq has completely failed. Since the US invasion, the Iraqi political system has undergone many changes. A dictator, Saddam Hussein, ruled over Iraq until March 2003. According to a study by The Lancet in 2006, conservative estimates of civilian casualties as a result of the war and other violence after the US invasion was 601,027.As compared to the pre-invasion era, the new political system is an improvement. Today, Iraq has its new constitution upon which many rounds of elections have been held.But, Iraq lacks leadership. Post-Saddam Iraq has suffered from poor governance. The new, democratic Iraq is rife with bribery, kickbacks, and embezzlement, a routine part of its corrupt politics. Iraq was ranked as the eighth most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International in 2012.There is poverty. The government is unable to provide basic necessities such as security, education and infrastructure, effectively blocking the young generation from participating in politics.Therefore, in order to understand how people actually experience democracy, it is necessary to question this standard of democracy, whether it includes the rule of law, accountability of government officials to the voters, and economic equality.Even if Iraqis enjoy far more freedom now than during Saddam’s regime, civil liberties remain increasingly under threat. For anti-government coverage, journalists have being continuously targeted. In a single year, 2011, five journalists were killed. There was a reported total of 66 attacks on members of the media during that year. Due to these incidents, a committee which aims to protect the media declared Iraq to be “one of the most dangerous countries for journalists” in the world.Democracy has not brought enough improvement in the living conditions and infrastructure of Iraq. Now, the country, which used to boast of its highly skilled and educated population, cannot even meet the needs of its people. It has not capitalized on its substantial oil wealth. According to reports published in 2011, most Iraqis received electricity for only five hours a day.Politics in Iraq exhibit a disturbing regression toward authoritarianism. When Nouri Maliki became the prime minister of Iraq for the second time, he progressively consolidated his own powers and tried to contain his rivals. Just before the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq in 2011, several politicians were arrested including vice president Tariq al-Hashimi and the highest ranking Sunni officials in the government. Hashemi was later sentenced to death. Many of Maliki’s opponents have tried to limit his consolidation of power but faced formidable obstacles.Iraq does not have one single society; its society is fragmented. There are two main causes for such a fragmentation: ethnic fragmentation (Arab-Kurd) and the sectarian split (Shia-Sunni). Iraq is a multi-ethnic and a multi-religion state, hence, Iraq is deeply divided. After the US invasion, the balance of power within the country changed, the authoritarian rule was replaced with a parliamentary system. After the removal of Saddam’s regime, the Shia achieved power and Sunnis were marginalized, quite the opposite of the pre-2003 reality.Lack of inclusion in the post-invasion state-building process is the main cause of poor quality of democratic governance in Iraq. In the immediate aftermath of the US invasion, the process of establishing new constitutions and governing bodies came to an end. The rushed effort to generate and implement a new constitution excluded key stakeholders – Arab Sunnis. There were several controversial stipulations in the constitutions that threatened the Iraqi Sunni Arab politicians. Since the drafting of the new constitution, Sunni Arabs have continued to feel marginalized in the New Iraq.
In the post-invasion era, procedural democracy was established in Iraq. After that, a new constitution was adopted; multiple rounds of national and provincial elections have also been held. However, the formal institutions of democracy do not give minimum democratic rights and also do not guarantee tangible improvements in the lives of citizens. The US invasion and subsequent developments in Iraqi politics have given rise to sectarian lines, as well as growing conflicts in social and political life, corruption, a further deterioration in public services and in the well-being of the population. Although some improvements were made, no one can say that Iraq as a democracy has succeeded. The state of Iraq lacks an Iraqi society and this is the major challenge to the democracy in Iraq.The writer is a senior intelligence analyst and former Kurdistan Regional Government deputy representative to US; he holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and history.
