Political Instability In Iraq: Reasons And Solutions

The Iraqi people have run out of patience after many years of poor government with the inability of their ruling authorities to provide simple services and fight to increase the unemployment rate. Tens of thousands of people have been demonstrating anger and showing their face despite the aggressive and ruthless government. Security forces in Iraq have murdered more than 100 protesters and wounded thousands more. Broadcasting stations have been attacked, and the internet and social media platforms were being blocked from all citizen's sight, keeping people from viewing the behind the scenes absurdity of the oppressive government. Protests are taking place as a call to action, but it seems to be almost useless. The size and scale of these protests are remarkable, as is the Iraqi government's violent reaction. The answer to the Iraqi’s political problem seems to only be getting more difficult to solve, and with no recent sign of change, it seems the countries only light of hope is still in the dark. At the end of its lead, Iraq's recent wave of protests against inequality, a lack of basic amenities, unemployment, and Iran's involvement in domestic affairs revealed a country in despair. In the violent crackdown of protestors, official figures put the number of protesters killed at 157. Since 2011, there has been violent suppression of protests and popular movements that have challenged and questioned the state. Iran's presence has increased as Iraq's Shiite-dominated government has become dependent on the Popular Mobilization Forces of Iran (PMF) to maintain order in Iraq. The support from them is furthermore restricting people's ability to speak out and challenge the oppressive government. Iraq's challenges are deep-rooted and systemic, and may intensify into a full-scale rebellion unless they are resolved.

What is needed is the reform of the country's constitution of 2005, which was written after a conflict-ridden war and occupation during a period of political instability. The only way for Iraq to have a chance of prosperity and peace is by addressing its faulty foundations, which the occupiers have heavily influenced. Under an informal agreement between political parties, the presidency is reserved for Kurds, Shia Arabs as the prime minister, and Sunni Arabs as the parliamentary speaker. The long process of government creation after elections relies on the division of key state institutions based on ethnic and sectarian identities. In doing this, political parties are creating blocs with and against each other to accomplish their aims, with the largest becoming the ruling bloc. While Iraqi elites are divided on the basis of ethnicity, faith and religion, this power struggle–and with it the ability to allocate and share the resources of the country, which generates cohesion among elites. For example, the winning candidate has not become prime minister in three different parliamentary elections since 2003. Nouri al-Maliki, as head of the State of Law alliance, secured the largest number of seats in parliament in the 2014 elections, but was succeeded by Haider al-Abadi due to disagreements over government creation and the fight against Islamic State. Muqtada al-Sadr's Saairun alliance won a majority in the 2018 elections, but ultimately it was an independent Adil Abdul-Mahdi who was chosen as prime minister. The first priority of any new Iraqi government should be to organize fresh elections on a completely different basis than in the past. There are two simple changes that need to be made immediately. Next, Iraq's parliament members are some of the world's best-paid lawmakers. For the wrong reasons, this had the benefit of drawing voters. Parliament members ' salaries, benefits and pensions should be significantly reduced. Secondly, wide-ranging powers must be given to the electoral commission to disqualify candidates who violate the fundamental rules of the campaign. Some candidates have been openly bribing, manipulating and threatening voters in the past, while financing their campaigns with embezzled funds without any serious penalties.

The result is a Parliament populated by the worst elements of society, full of incompetents who, apart from their own enrichment and empowerment, have no vision. These people were never supposed to be allowed to run for Parliament. A number of Iraqi organizations, experts and even some politicians have been calling for these reforms, but more needs to be done to coordinate and prioritize them. Nominally, all of these changes require legislative action, but if the current Parliament refuses to act, the government should proceed anyway in the knowledge that it will have the people’s full support. Iraq has been in crisis for years and any insistence on adhering to legal formalities seems misplaced at this point. New elections, organized on the basis of a reformed electoral law, would finally allow the possibility of genuine reforms that could put an end to the culture of impunity in the political class of Iraq once and for all. New elections would also make it possible to finally fix the weak government accountability organizations in Iraq. To encourage Iraq to meet its people's increasing demands and development challenges on the global scene, immediate political reformation will be needed. The process of change must deal directly with the hurried and divisive constitution. This must be accompanied by the democratization of Iraq's institutions and the re-creation of Iraq's national identity in order for the country to avoid the worst of its sectarianism and become more united as a nation. Without all these problems being treated fairly, the process of hardship will continue as Iraq remains a reactive country as opposed to constructive. Without all these problems being treated fairly, the hardship cycle will continue as Iraq remains a reactive country as opposed to a constructive nation. The US should first continue to pressure the Iraqi government to remove from the north Shiite militias. Local communities view them as a threat that inevitably leads to increased conflict and prevents the return of displaced populations.

The U. S. should also continue to provide security aid to the country. It involves training and support for the Iraqi army to ensure that it is neither taken over from within by political groups, nor unduly influenced by the Iranians with militia forces reintegration. There also needs to be a sense that in the longer term the U. S. will remain engaged on the defense front. Otherwise, the lack of engagement will result in a vacuum being filled by others, such as Iran. The United States must remain committed to economic and humanitarian aid in Iraq. This includes not only the foreign aid resources to help with post-ISIS reconstruction, but also the high-level diplomatic engagement to support Iraqi political factions seem to “de-escalate” tensions and find workable solutions to security concerns and power-sharing challenges.