Questions of sovereignty
The French proposal to grant sovereignty to Iraqis in months and not years has been well received by Iraqi politicians, but is it realistic?
Omayma Abdel-Latif gauges responses
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An Iraqi family looks on as a US soldier guards anti-American fighters during a raid on Tikrit last week
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Iraqi politicians, including members of the US- appointed Iraqi Governing Council (IGC), welcomed a French call for the swift transfer of power from the US-controlled Coalition Provisional Authority to a sovereign Iraqi government. Contrary to American views on the subject, the French insistence is that Iraqis are prepared to be their own masters.
Speaking to Al-Ahram Weekly, some Iraqi politicians expressed enthusiasm for "any initiative" that ends the occupation of their country. "We welcome the French proposal and any other initiative -- particularly from Arab countries -- which supports the right of the Iraqis to self-rule and empowers them to manage their own affairs," said Ammar Abdel-Aziz Al- Hakim, deputy head of the Supreme Council of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SCIRI), to the Weekly in a telephone interview from Baghdad on Tuesday. The SCIRI is one of the two most prominent Shi'ite movements in Iraq and is represented on the IGC by Al-Hakim. Adnan Bachachi, another senior member of the IGC, also voiced support for the French plan. Bachachi pointed out that the political process of self-rule needs to be expedited so that "Iraqis can have a constitution and elections as soon as possible".
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin last week suggested a plan in which Iraq would establish a provisional government in a month, write a constitution by the end of the year and hold a UN-mandated election next spring. In an interview with The New York Times published on Sunday, French President Jacques Chirac defended such a plan by warning against "a dangerous situation for any people to accept in the 21st century of a governor who is Christian and foreign administering an Arab and Muslim country".
The French plan, nonetheless, was derided by the Bush administration as "totally unrealistic". The administration argued that Iraqis are still not ready to govern Iraq. Al-Hakim ridiculed this line of thought; he said it underestimates the capabilities of the Iraqi people. Iraqis, he insisted, have shown themselves to be capable of handling the situation on the ground with regards to security and policing tasks.
"The deterioration in security is most noticeable in areas where there is a heavy presence of the US occupation forces such as in Baghdad and its surroundings, while Iraqi police forces have managed to keep their own areas under control," Al-Hakim said.
But security is just one of several contentious issues stirred up by the French proposal. While the French suggested that the constitution be written by the end of this year, sources close to the IGC claimed the task is likely to take between 12 and 18 months. A committee of legal and constitutional experts appointed by the IGC is currently touring Iraqi cities to gauge popular opinion. The methodical process of planning a constitution is thus in its earliest stages.
Some Iraqis, however, cautioned against hastiness in the transfer of power due to the still- volatile security situation in Iraq. Adnan Al- Asady, a senior member of the Al-Daw'a Party and spokesperson for Ibrahim Al-Jaafary, one of the 14 Shi'ite members of the IGC, said that one of the major impediments to a swift transfer of power is the continuous presence of remnants of the Ba'ath Party who are "armed to the teeth". Al-Asady stated that coalition forces must first establish security, a process that currently appears to have no end in sight. "I think the French proposal is welcomed by all Iraqis, however, the timetable set in the plan is not realistic," Al-Asady told the Weekly on Monday from Baghdad.
Al-Hakim countered that the security situation would likely improve if authority gets transferred to the Iraqis. "Violence could end as soon as Iraqis become masters of their own affairs. People will realise that Iraq has returned to the Iraqis and that the US occupation will end sooner rather than later," Al-Hakim said.
The French proposal coincides with mounting Iraqi anger and frustration over the way the US is handling the post-war scene. In the view of many Iraqis the US administration has failed to demonstrate a coherent strategy and to effect many of its pledges to establish a democratic system. This, according to some observers, explains why trust in the US occupying administration is fast eroding among Iraqis. Both Al-Hakim and Al-Asady acknowledge the fact that the US occupying administration is deliberately marginalising Iraqis, denying them any key decision-making role. "The Americans simply don't want to listen to the Iraqis. They don't want to engage the popular and political forces in any process of power transfer. We are pushing hard to earn some political space of our own but we feel that there is a deliberate effort on the part of the Americans to marginalise the Iraqis," Al-Hakim said.
One hurdle the Iraqi supporters of the French proposal must clear is the lack of a tradition of viable political institutions that could catalyse the political process. Iraqis are still divided as to whether or not the IGC, composed of 25 members representing the various ethnic and religious groups in Iraq, should oversee the process of transition from occupation to sovereignty.
"In the eyes of most Iraqis this council lacks political legitimacy and many of its members don't have an actual constituency," said Kamil Al-Mahdi, an Iraqi professor at Exeter University.
Al-Hakim nonetheless believes that the IGC should be handed all sovereign powers. It could then make important decisions on a mechanism for electing the members of the constitutional council and call for a constitutional referendum, to be followed by free and fair elections. "This should be a smooth transfer of authority so that the council becomes fully responsible for initiating this process of political reform," Al- Hakim said. "But the question is whether or not the US is willing to relinquish its power in Iraq. As far as I am concerned, there is no indication they are planning this any time soon."
