Interim Iraq Governing Council
The Iraq Interim Governing Council is a provisional government of Iraq, subject to the authority of the US-led coalition which ousted Saddam Hussein. The council consists of various Iraqi political, religious, and tribal leaders who were appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority to provide transitional leadership of Iraq to an eventual democratic state.
The Council's ethnic and religious breakdown includes 13 Shi'ites, five Sunni Arabs, five Kurds (also Sunnis), one ethnic Turk and an Assyrian Christian.
In September 2003, the Iraqi Governing Council gained regional recognition from the Arab League, which agreed to seat its representative in Iraq's chair at its meetings.
Though still subject to the authority of the CPA administrator (Paul Bremer), the council has several key powers of its own. So far, their duties have been appointing representatives to the United Nations, appointing interim ministers to Iraq's vacant cabinet positions, and drafting a constitution that will later be voted on by the Iraqi people.
Despite having to answer to the CPU, different factions have taken on controversial stands. Religious hardliners won a solid victory when Directive 137 was passed on December 29th. Passed by the council in less than 15 minutes, it replaced Iraq's former secular family law code with Shari'a family law. This move met with wide protest among many Iraqi women fearful of how it will affect their freedom to make their own decisions about marriage, divorce, alimony, and many other issues where Iraq used to be a leader in the arab world for women's rights. Other legislation passed by the council includes declaring the day that Baghdad fell to be a national holiday, voting to establish a tribunal to try former government leaders, and banning television stations which are deemed to be supportive of the resistance.
Council Members
The presidency of Iraq rotates monthly among nine members of the council. A (p) marks those members above. (See President of Iraq.)
On September 1, 2003, the council named its first cabinet. They are:
The Saddam-era positions of Minister of Defense and Minister of Information have been dissolved.
Referenced By
2003 Occupation of Iraq | Abdel-Karim Mahoud al-Mohammedawi | Abdul-Ameer Abboud Rahima | Abdul-Latif Rashid | Abdul-Rahman Sidiq Kareem | Ahmed al-Barak | Alaudin Abdul-Saheb al-Alwan | Ali Adbul-Amir Allawi | Ali Faik al-Ghadban | As of November 2003 | Ayham al-Samaraie | Bayan Baqir Solagh | Behnam Zayya Polis | Dara Noor Alzin | Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer | Haider al-Ebadi | Hamid Majid Mousa | Hashim Abdul-Rahman al-Shibli | History of Iraq | Hoshyar Zebari | ISO 3166-1:IQ | Ibrahim Mohamed Bahr al-Uloum | Irak | Iraq | Iraqi | Iyad Allawi | Jalal Talabani | Kamil Mubdir al-Gailani | Khudayer Abbas | List of Iraq related topics | Mahdi al-Hafidh | Mahmoud Othman | Mofeed Mohammed Jawad al-Jazaeri | Mohammed Jassem Khudair | Mohammed Tawfik Raheem | Mohsen Abdel Hamid | Mouwafak al-Rabii | Naseer al-Chaderchi | Nesreen Mustafa Sidiq Berwari | Nori al-Badran | November 2003 | Occupation of Iraq | Raja Habib al-Khuzaai | Rashad Mandan Omar | Reconstruction and democratization of Iraq | Republic of Iraq | Salaheddine Bahaaeddin | Salama al-Khufaji | Sami Izara al-Majoun | Samir Shakir Mahmoud | Sondul Chapouk | U.S.-led occupation of Iraq | U.S. occupation of Iraq | US-led occupation of Iraq | US occupation of Iraq | Wael Abdul Latif | Younadem Kana | Zeyad Abdul-Razzaq Mohammed Aswad
|
