Iraqi Governing Council
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The Iraqi Interim Governing Council, usually abbreviated as the Iraqi Governing Council, was the provisional government of Iraq established by the US-led multinational coalition that ousted the Saddam Hussein regime. The council, which operated in 2003 and 2004, consisted of various Iraqi political, religious, and tribal leaders who were appointed by the Coalition Provisional Authority to provide transitional leadership of the country to an eventual democratic state.
The Council's ethnic and religious breakdown included 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. On June 1, 2004, the Iraq Interim Governing Council dissolved after choosing council member Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer as the new Iraqi president of the Iraq interim government.
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General information
Though subject to the authority of the CPA administrator Paul Bremer, the council had several key powers of its own. Their duties included appointing representatives to the United Nations, appointing interim ministers to Iraq's vacant cabinet positions, and drafting a constitution to be later voted on by the Iraqi people.
Despite having to answer to the CPA, different factions have taken on controversial stands. Religious hardliners won a solid victory when Directive 137 was passed on December 29. 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 included 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.
According to the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period, the interim constitution that the Council approved, the Council would cease to function after June 30, 2004, at which point full sovereignty would return to Iraq, and the government will be handed over to a new, sovereign interim government. Instead, the council chose to dissolve itself prematurely.
Council Members
- Samir Shakir Mahmoud
- Sondul Chapouk
- Ahmed Chalabi (p)
- Naseer al-Chaderchi
- Adnan Pachachi (p)
- Mohammed Bahr al-Uloum (p)
- Massoud Barzani (p)
- Jalal Talabani (p)
- Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim (p)
- Ahmed al-Barak
- Ibrahim al-Jaafari (p) now Provisional Prime Minister of Iraq
- Raja Habib al-Khuzaai
- Aquila al-Hashimi (died following assassination attack on September 25, 2003); replaced by Salama al-Khufaji on December 8
- Younadem Kana
- Salaheddine Bahaaeddin
- Mahmoud Othman
- Hamid Majid Mousa
- Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer (p) - Final council president, now interim President of Iraq
- Ezzedine Salim (p) (died in car bomb on May 17, 2004)
- Mohsen Abdel Hamid (p)
- Iyad Allawi (p) - former interim Prime Minister of Iraq
- Wael Abdul Latif
- Mouwafak al-Rabii
- Dara Noor Alzin
- Abdel-Karim Mahoud al-Mohammedawi
The presidency of Iraq rotated monthly among nine members of the council. A (p) marks those members above. (See President of Iraq.)
Cabinet
On September 1, 2003, the council named its first cabinet. They are:
- Minister of Communications — Haider al-Ebadi
- Minister of Public Works — Nesreen Mustafa Sidiq Berwari
- Minister of Construction and Housing — Bayan Baqir Solagh
- Minister of the Environment — Abdul-Rahman Sidiq Kareem
- Minister of Trade — Ali Adbul-Amir Allawi
- Minister of Planning — Mahdi al-Hafidh
- Minister of Education — Alaudin Abdul-Saheb al-Alwan
- Minister of Higher Education — Zeyad Abdul-Razzaq Mohammed Aswad
- Minister of Culture — Mofeed Mohammed Jawad al-Jazaeri
- Minister of Human Rights — Abdul-Basit Turki (resigned April 2004)
- Minister of Foreign Affairs — Hoshyar Zebari
- Minister of Interior — Nori al-Badran (resigned April 2004)
- Minister of Agriculture — Abdul-Ameer Abboud Rahima
- Minister of Sport and Youth — Ali Faik al-Ghadban
- Minister of Health — Dr. Khudayer Abbas
- Minister of Industry and Minerals — Mohammed Tawfik Raheem
- Minister of Justice — Hashim Abdul-Rahman al-Shibli
- Minister of Science and Technology — Rashad Mandan Omar
- Minister of Work and Social Affairs — Sami Izara al-Majoun
- Minister of Electricity — Ayham al-Samaraie
- Minister of Finance — Kamil Mubdir al-Gailani
- Minister of Immigration and Refugees — Mohammed Jassem Khudair
- Minister of Water Resources — Abdul-Latif Rashid
- Minister of Oil — Ibrahim Mohamed Bahr al-Uloum
- Minister of Transport — Behnam Zayya Polis
The Saddam-era positions of Minister of Defense and Minister of Information were dissolved.
External link
- Iraqi Interim Governing Council (http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/igc.htm)de:Irakischer Regierungsrat