Ammar al-Hakim, the son of the Shiite Muslim cleric and politician Abdul Abdul Aziz al-Hakim has been very active these days. The “second Uday,” as some Iraqis like to call him, is promoting for the foundation of the federal southern region of Iraq. On the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, Hakim Jr. led the Eid prayer at the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council’s Headquarter, a former government compound in Baghdad’s high-scale neighborhood of Jadriyah.
The turbaned young man, who apparently is preparing to take over his father’s leadership, stood behind a glass square-shaped podium and addressed hundreds of his party’s supporters. “I call on our people to form their regions, starting from the South of Baghdad Region to all other regions, as it is an Iraqi interest, decision and will.”
Let’s see if I can discuss this issue from different angels. Federalism has proven its success in several countries like the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, Russia, etc. Iraq has already experienced a successful praise-worthy federal region in its Kurdish northern region, known as “Iraqi Kurdistan.” Looking at the successful experience, I keep wondering if this could be the same if applied in the other regions of Iraq. The other question I keep thinking about is whether this time is the right time to apply it.
Iraq is going through a strong sectarian division carried out by Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias whose main job is basically to kill and destroy the lives of the innocent civilians psychologically and physically. Amidst this horror, there are several things that are needed to be done prior to thinking about federalism, in order to think of how to shape the structure of the country in the next step. I believe that federalism needs a strong, loyal government, not like the one ruling Iraq now. Almost all the political parties have proved to all Iraqis that they have never felt loyal to their country. Instead, revenge and power seizing is what they came for from their exile.
The southern part of Iraq is dominated by Shiite Muslim parties. These parties which include the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, Fadhila Party and the Sadr Movement are in a high-level competition of who is going to control that region first. When Hakim Jr. called again for the federalism in southern Iraq, he was attacked by the other two parties who basically accused him and his party of “agreeing with the American partition plan,” according to Salah al-Ubaidi, the Sadr spokesman in the holy city of Najaf, in reference to the Biden resolution that was passed on Sept. 26. Fadhila Party who controls some oil-rich areas in southern Iraq, criticized Hakim’s decision which came in “an inappropriate time,” according to Basim al-Sharif, a leader in the Party.
Hakim’s opposition didn’t end at the Shiites' end. Ahmed Abu Reesha, the Anbar Awakening leader who succeeded his brother who was murdered by al-Qaeda a few months ago, declared his opposition to that call. Abu Reehsha’s opposition came as Hakim Jr. visited the former in Anbar province, a long with Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr troops militia. Some sources told al-Hayat newspaper that most of the conversation between Hakim and Abu Reesha was concentrated on establishing the “Western Iraqi Region and the Southern Region.”
Let’s suppose that all these factions sit down and agree on creating federal regions in Iraq. The question that comes to my mind is will there be a unified government that would be “central” and representative of the entire country? Will the oil and mineral wealth be distributed fairly to all regions without the exclusive income going to where they exist?
As all these issues continue to lash out, the living circumstances of people have gone into a sharp decline, which resulted in an almost complete deprivation of electricity, fuel and clean water which are considered simple life requirements provided in any country including Iraq itself under Saddam’s tyrannical regime. The Americans have become crippled and unable to make all these politicians whom they brought from exile to agree on anything. The US Senate passed a resolution to divide Iraq into three ethnic federal regions believing that without this solution they “will have no chance for a political settlement in Iraq and, without that, no chance for leaving Iraq without leaving chaos behind.”
Federalism is a good thing, yet I believe that Iraqis are not ready for accepting it at the meantime. They will be if the surroundings are changed. The Iraqi politicians need to put hand in hand in order to rebuild their country. They need to get rid of their personal interests and start thinking about the interest of the country as whole. They need to be united in order to defeat terrorism and bring security back. If these things happen, people will be able to think, learn and be aware of federalism and its advantages, because by that time they will trust their leaders and will understand what federalism means. However, if non of this happen, no peace, no stability, no federalism will ever be seen in the near future.
baghdadtreasure@gmail.com
The turbaned young man, who apparently is preparing to take over his father’s leadership, stood behind a glass square-shaped podium and addressed hundreds of his party’s supporters. “I call on our people to form their regions, starting from the South of Baghdad Region to all other regions, as it is an Iraqi interest, decision and will.”
Let’s see if I can discuss this issue from different angels. Federalism has proven its success in several countries like the United States, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, Canada, Russia, etc. Iraq has already experienced a successful praise-worthy federal region in its Kurdish northern region, known as “Iraqi Kurdistan.” Looking at the successful experience, I keep wondering if this could be the same if applied in the other regions of Iraq. The other question I keep thinking about is whether this time is the right time to apply it.
Iraq is going through a strong sectarian division carried out by Sunni insurgents and Shiite militias whose main job is basically to kill and destroy the lives of the innocent civilians psychologically and physically. Amidst this horror, there are several things that are needed to be done prior to thinking about federalism, in order to think of how to shape the structure of the country in the next step. I believe that federalism needs a strong, loyal government, not like the one ruling Iraq now. Almost all the political parties have proved to all Iraqis that they have never felt loyal to their country. Instead, revenge and power seizing is what they came for from their exile.
The southern part of Iraq is dominated by Shiite Muslim parties. These parties which include the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, Fadhila Party and the Sadr Movement are in a high-level competition of who is going to control that region first. When Hakim Jr. called again for the federalism in southern Iraq, he was attacked by the other two parties who basically accused him and his party of “agreeing with the American partition plan,” according to Salah al-Ubaidi, the Sadr spokesman in the holy city of Najaf, in reference to the Biden resolution that was passed on Sept. 26. Fadhila Party who controls some oil-rich areas in southern Iraq, criticized Hakim’s decision which came in “an inappropriate time,” according to Basim al-Sharif, a leader in the Party.
Hakim’s opposition didn’t end at the Shiites' end. Ahmed Abu Reesha, the Anbar Awakening leader who succeeded his brother who was murdered by al-Qaeda a few months ago, declared his opposition to that call. Abu Reehsha’s opposition came as Hakim Jr. visited the former in Anbar province, a long with Hadi al-Amiri, the leader of the Badr troops militia. Some sources told al-Hayat newspaper that most of the conversation between Hakim and Abu Reesha was concentrated on establishing the “Western Iraqi Region and the Southern Region.”
Let’s suppose that all these factions sit down and agree on creating federal regions in Iraq. The question that comes to my mind is will there be a unified government that would be “central” and representative of the entire country? Will the oil and mineral wealth be distributed fairly to all regions without the exclusive income going to where they exist?
As all these issues continue to lash out, the living circumstances of people have gone into a sharp decline, which resulted in an almost complete deprivation of electricity, fuel and clean water which are considered simple life requirements provided in any country including Iraq itself under Saddam’s tyrannical regime. The Americans have become crippled and unable to make all these politicians whom they brought from exile to agree on anything. The US Senate passed a resolution to divide Iraq into three ethnic federal regions believing that without this solution they “will have no chance for a political settlement in Iraq and, without that, no chance for leaving Iraq without leaving chaos behind.”
Federalism is a good thing, yet I believe that Iraqis are not ready for accepting it at the meantime. They will be if the surroundings are changed. The Iraqi politicians need to put hand in hand in order to rebuild their country. They need to get rid of their personal interests and start thinking about the interest of the country as whole. They need to be united in order to defeat terrorism and bring security back. If these things happen, people will be able to think, learn and be aware of federalism and its advantages, because by that time they will trust their leaders and will understand what federalism means. However, if non of this happen, no peace, no stability, no federalism will ever be seen in the near future.
baghdadtreasure@gmail.com
