As-salamu alaykum - Iraq’s constitution at 20: hopes, frustrations and a few other headlines
As-salamu alaykum - a mix of stories and notes I wanted to share, starting with Iraq and then a few other bits I found interesting.
Iraq’s constitution at 20
Twenty years ago people stood in the face of bombings and long queues to vote on a new constitution, their purple-stained fingers a mark of hope and a safeguard against fraud. The charter was written in a hurry, born from fear, foreign occupation and big deadlines, and it was sold as the foundation for a new democratic, stable Iraq after Saddam’s fall.
Today it is still the country’s legal basis, but many Iraqis feel it reads well on paper and fails in practice. Critics say it’s become a major fault line and a tool for political parties to protect their power. Mohie Al Ansari from Al Rasheed Centre for Development told a panel that parties treat the constitution like a cover to grab privileges and bend it when convenient.
Al Ansari first voted in 2010, when the cross-sectarian Al Iraqiya list came top but a contested court ruling allowed Nouri Al Maliki’s bloc to form the government, a move he says undermined the young democracy. He says he has little trust in current parties to lead meaningful amendments and sees constitutional arrangements as incomplete and arbitrary.
Husam Al Haj of the Baghdad Centre for Middle East Studies points out gaps in the text and how political forces pick and choose articles to suit themselves. Over time, many say, an informal “parallel constitution” of customs and deals has taken hold, shaping the system more than the written charter.
This Wednesday marks the 20th anniversary of that referendum, and also the 100th year since Iraq’s first Basic Law which created a constitutional monarchy. The country then went through interim documents after coups and revolutions, often dominated by centralisation and a single-party style of rule. The permanent 2005 constitution was different: the first to be approved by popular referendum during a fraught shift from authoritarian rule to a fledgling, consensus-based system.
Drafting in 2005 happened under huge pressure - security threats, sectarian violence, mistrust between Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds, and tight deadlines set partly by the Transitional Administrative Law. US envoys, including Zalmay Khalilzad, say they shuttled between groups to try to get broad participation and a bargain that could hold the country together.
The result was an ambitious but sometimes vague document that tried to placate many sides. Key disputes then - and now - include federalism, oil and resource control, religion and law, personal status, minority rights and disputed territories with the Kurdistan region. Many of today’s fights between Baghdad and Erbil have roots in how those things were written or left unclear.
Prominent voices like Ammar Al Hakim note that each group tends to emphasise its rights in the document rather than its duties to others. Attempts to form amendment committees after the referendum did happen, but recommendations stalled. The 2019 protests showed public anger and a demand to change the political order, including calls to revise the constitution, but promised reforms didn’t take hold.
Some call for a new social and political compact negotiated by consensus; others, like Baghdad businessman Ali Hameed, doubt the current elite can fix a system that benefits them and urge young people to change how they approach elections if they want real influence - and suggest outside pressure may again play a role.
Other notes and things I saved
Cars and engines: quick specs I noted - a 5.2-litre V10 with 540hp and 540Nm, seven-speed auto, combined fuel around 12.4L/100km; and a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 pushing about 819hp and 678Nm, pricey and exclusive.
Expo 2020 Dubai (reminder): first World Expo in the MEASA region, ran from Oct 20, 2020 to Apr 10, 2021, aimed for ~25 million visits and a large share of international visitors. Site was about 4.38 sq km, near Al Maktoum International.
DIY cleaning tips (simple and safe):
- Toilet cleaner: 1 cup baking soda + 1 cup castile soap + 10–20 drops lemon oil. Mix to a paste, add oil, apply.
- Air freshener: 100ml water + 5 drops essential oil in a spray bottle. Shake before use.
Markets and money worries: four big worries for investors - rising US interest rates (Fed tightening), a stronger dollar that stresses dollar debt in emerging markets, a possible US–China trade escalation, and eurozone risks like Brexit and political standoffs in countries such as Italy. These combine to make markets choppy and a stock-picker’s environment, some managers say.
Travel snippet: direct flights from Dubai to Sofia are available; Plovdiv is about 150km from Sofia with hourly buses, and the Rhodope mountains are reachable in a few hours. Guided mountain trips costing a few hundred USD include guiding, food and transfers.
Culture and books: items on my list - The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon and a Habibi Funk compilation of Arab music. A few film and TV mentions I saw: some regional directors and actors with mixed ratings.
Randoms: brief mentions of UAE notes/coins, startups (a UAE fintech called Spare started in 2018), and a few sports scores and lineups I skimmed.
Anyway, that’s the roundup. May Allah grant guidance and ease to those working for fair, just systems. If you want me to expand any of the points above or turn one into a post of its own, let me know - insha'Allah I’ll help.
https://www.thenationalnews.co