Iraqi unity
By
Salama A Salama
As the spectre of ethnic and sectarian divisions loom over their country, it is imperative Iraqis start thinking of what they must do to stay together. One thing the Interim Governing Council might do is begin talks with other forces in the country about the transfer of power. This would be a significant improvement on the current situation. Now everyone is trying to secure sectarian or factional gains at the expense of Iraq's unity.
The massive demonstrations in Baghdad in support of Ayatollah Al- Sistani's demands were a wake-up call. Al-Sistani wants direct elections to be held before a government is formed and before a constitution is drafted. The demonstrations were so unsettling that Paul Bremer flew to Washington to request the UN be involved in the political process. The US administration may be pleased with its assertion that it can fight more than one war at the same time, but it has failed in the simple political and diplomatic task of keeping Iraq in order, so much so that no one expects it to be able to pull troops from Iraq before the presidential elections.
One obvious American error was to promise the Kurds self rule even after power is transferred to the Iraqis. Al-Sistani's answer was to call for elections, which would allow the Shi'ite majority to determine Iraq's future. The Sunni community and other minority groups may find themselves sidelined in the process.
Washington seems more interested in getting troops from other countries to help it out in Iraq than in creating a government -- based on solid legal and constitutional foundations rather than factional or tribal ones -- capable of holding the country together. In a worrying sign Iraqi legislation governing marital status have been rescinded. Now every sect may decide as it pleases on matters of marriage and divorce. This is a blow to prospects for unity and to the remnants of secularism that could have formed the basis for a democratic system. No country can claim to be united and democratic in the absence of a unified legal system.
The unity of Iraq is now the sole responsibility of the Iraqis. One way to maintain it is through a geographically based federal system. Such a system should rely only minimally on ethnicity, the rallying cry of the Kurds, or on sect, the rallying cry of the Shi'ites.
The UN may be able to promote such a federal system, but only if the Americans are willing to cooperate. The US must provide the UN with guarantees -- over protection and freedom of movement -- sufficient to reassure UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan following the horrific attack on the UN's headquarters in Iraq.
As in Sudan, federalism could be Iraq's way out, but only if implemented through careful consultations among all the concerned parties. It is in the interest of Iraq's neighbours -- Arabs, Iranians, and Turks -- to see the Iraqis living under a federal system; a system that is geographic in concept, run by a solid central government, and operating on a sectarian- and ethnic-free constitutional and legal basis. Such a system would respect local identities and characteristics, but in a manner that does not interfere with the fabric of the state, or drag it into a quagmire of outmoded sectarianism that could undermine the country's unity. This is a task for which the UN is better suited than the discredited occupation authorities.
