Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Iraqi parliament to discuss federalism
Politics
When the Iraqi parliament reconvened on Tuesday after a month's recess one of the top issues on the agenda was whether to break the country up into semi-independent regions which would be more or less autonomous but would unltimately answer to a strong central government in Baghdad. Abbas al-Bayati, spokesman for the largest Shia bloc, the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), which holds 128 seats out of the 275, noted that under Iraq's new constitution, the issue of federalism must be put forth before September 16.
COMMENT: The Sunnis strongly oppose federalism because they would lose out on the oil revenue generated from the south and north. The Shias support the plan which would give them control of the south and parts of central Iraq, areas where they also have holy shrines. The Kurds have been fighting for independence for decades and would welcome the plan but the oil-rich city of Kirkuk would be a contentious issue as it is currently not part of Kurdistan, but the Kurds believe it should be. However, the Turkomans, Sunni Arabs and Christians who make up part of Kirkuk's population strongly oppose becoming part of Kurdistan. COMMENTS ENDS.
