Iraq: Elections

The Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), currently composed of 18 members, is the supreme executive and legislative authority. The chairman of the RCC, who is also the secretary general of Iraq's ruling Arab Ba’th Socialist Party, is elected by a two-thirds vote. In the last election in May 2001 President Saddam Hussein was unanimously re-elected secretary-general, enabling him to continue to serve as chairman of the Iraqi Revolutionary Command Council. The RCC elected Saddam's second son Qusai together with six other new members.

The chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council also serves as president of the Republic for a seven-year term. The last presidential referendum was conducted on October 16, 2002.

The Revolutionary Command Council (RCC) shares legislative authority with a unicameral legislature, the National Assembly (Majlis al-Watani). The Assembly is composed of 250 members. In the elections of March 2000, 220 members were elected by majority vote from 59 multi-seat constituencies, and thirty were appointed by a presidential decree to represent the three northern provinces of Arbil, Dahuk and As-Sulaymaniyah.

The electoral constituencies are further divided into electoral territories. Each territory elects one representative to the National Assembly. Legislative seats vacated in between elections are filled through by-elections. Prospective candidates must satisfy the requirements mandated by the National Assembly law, enforced by an election commission that is appointed by the government. Among the host of requirements, candidates must be over the age of 25, must be Iraqi by birth, not married to foreigners, believe in Socialism, and must demonstrate allegiance to the principles of the 1968 Revolution. Members of the National Assembly rule for four-year terms. Voting is not compulsory, and suffrage is granted to all Iraqi citizens above the age of 18.

The first parliamentary elections were held in June 1980. Three subsequent legislative elections have been held. The most recent elections for the legislature took place in March 2000. All of the 522 candidates competing for the 220 vacant seats were either members of the ruling Socialist Arab Rebirth Party (Hizb al Ba’th al-Arabi al-Ishtiraki), or independents considered loyal to it. The Ba’th Party has ruled since 1968. During the election campaigns, candidates were restricted from discussing a number of issues, including the UN sanctions and the state of the Iraqi economy. Candidates were also allowed only limited media access.

The Ba’th Party established the National Progressive Front in 1974 as a venue for non-Ba’thist political participation. Article 26 of the Interim Constitution of 1990 guarantees the freedom of association, including the formation of political parties. Voter turnout in the March 2000 elections was estimated to have been between 83% and 88%. The Ba’thists won 165 of the seats and independents captured the remaining 55. President Saddam Hussein’s son Uday Hussein was elected to the National Assembly with the highest number of votes.

The most recent local elections were held in August 1999, while elections for the Autonomous Region were most recently held in February 2000.

The Kurdish Parliament is composed of a single chamber, the Kurdish National Assembly. The Assembly has 115 members that are filled under a system of proportional representation. One hundred seats are reserved for Kurds, 5 for Assyrians, and 10 for Turkmens.