Iraq: Decentralization and Urban Management

Article 8 of the Iraqi Constitution states that the organization of the government should be based on administrative units that emphasize the decentralization of governance. In practice, the Iraqi government remains highly centralized with limited local independence. With the exception of the three Kurdish governorates in the north that have had autonomy since the Gulf War in 1991, Iraq has not achieved substantial decentralization.

The nation of Iraq is separated into 18 governorates, each headed by a governor appointed by the president. The governorates are divided into administrative districts and subdistricts. The three predominantly Kurdish northern governorates of Arbil, Dahuk and As-Sulaymaniyah have been under the control of an independent, Kurdish government since the end of the Gulf War.

Municipal governments in Iraq vary in their responsibilities based on their size and political importance. The government of the city of Baghdad has a special administrative status and answers directly to the president. Most municipal mayors are elected in municipal elections, but the president appoints some, such as the major of Baghdad. The government has made statements supporting the need to decentralize administration and to give local institutions more authority.

Iraq’s last municipal election occurred in August 1999 in the fifteen government-controlled governorates. This was the fourth municipal election since the end of the Gulf War. There were 5910 candidates for 4851 seats on municipal councils.

In the past few years the government has sought to consolidate control of the Ba’th party by shifting the party’s regional command. In 1982, the fifteen-strong regional command consisted of eight Sunni Muslims, six Shi'i Muslims and one Christian. By 1991, the seventeen-strong regional command consisted of thirteen Sunni Muslims, three Shi'i Muslims and one Christian. Twelve of the members came from the three Sunni governorates that the regime used as its political base. The five remaining members represented the other 15 governorates.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iraq (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) government in the northern governorates held municipal elections in February 2000. There were 155 mayoral candidates and 916 municipal council candidates running in the election. Municipal councils are the highest local authority in the region, overseeing education, development projects, and public service projects. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has implemented a $317 million project to rebuild the electrical system in the Kurdish region that was destroyed during the Gulf War.

The autonomous government in the north has demanded a federalist solution to their conflict with the central Iraqi government. Iraqi officials have rejected federalism risk fragmenting the country and undermining the national principles of unity. The Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), an opposition Kurdish group in Turkey, has also opposed a federal remedy arguing that it would create feudal regions in the control of corrupt leaders.

For more information, please see Iraq - Decentralization weblinks