why iraq not democratic country
Answers
Answer:
Democracy in Iraq bears the hallmarks of a political system born in foreign occupation and civil war. It is marked with deep divisions over the power of the executive, disputes between ethnic and religious groups, and between centralists and advocates of federalism. Yet for all its flaws, the democratic project in Iraq brought to an end more than four decades of dictatorship, and most Iraqis would probably prefer not to turn the clock back.
System of Government
The Republic of Iraq is a parliamentary democracy introduced gradually after the US-led invasion in 2003 that toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein. The most powerful political office is that of the prime minister, who heads the Council of Ministers. Prime minister is nominated by the strongest parliamentary party or a coalition of parties that hold the majority of seats.
Elections to parliament are relatively free and fair, with a solid voter turn-out, though usually marked by violence. The parliament also chooses the president of the republic, who has few real powers but who can act as an informal mediator between rival political groups. This is in contrast to Saddam’s regime, where all institutional power was concentrated in the hands of the president.
Regional and Sectarian Divisions
Since the formation of the modern Iraqi state in the 1920s, its political elites were drawn largely from the Sunni Arab minority. The great historical significance of the 2003 US-led invasion is that it enabled the Shiite Arab majority to claim power for the first time while cementing special rights for the Kurdish ethnic minority.