31 December 2002
Iraqi professionals discuss the future of local government and oil
(Two working groups of Future of Iraq Project meet in late December) (1120) By Vicki Silverman Washington File Staff Writer Washington -- Two working groups, one dealing with local government, the other with the oil and gas industry, of the Future of Iraq Project met for the first time in Washington in late December under the auspices of the State Department. The local government working group, consisting of 15 Iraqi-born academics, businessmen and religious leaders, met December 18-19 for discussions on developing effective, accountable local government once Saddam Hussein's one-party structure collapses. The oil and gas working group brought together Iraqi-born oil and gas experts for discussions December 20-21 on managing the Iraqi energy sector in the post-Saddam era. Speaking to the Washington File December 23, Talib Al-Hamdani, political scientist, engineer and participant in the local government working group, explained how Iraq's Ba'athist regime began in the 1970's to usurp power from all levels of government. "What you have now is total central control from the top," he said, with most governors and mayors appointed by the Interior Ministry in Baghdad. "Local government figures are organs of the regime, drawn from the higher ranks of the Ba'ath Party, and lack any real power," Hamdani said. If Iraq is to transition to a more representative form of government, Hamdani said it is important to begin immediately strengthening the basic elements of day-to-day governance and ensuring officials are accountable to the local population. The working group agreed on the importance of re-introducing elected city councils throughout the country. "I really see local elections happening before elections to the major national bodies. Elections, particularly in the smaller cities, would be fairly easy to do. And it would give people valuable training, give life to civic society and encourage political debate," Hamdani explained. Hamdani said specific ideas on the role of local councils were being shared among the working group members. He predicted that the councils would have a voice in monitoring the effectiveness and integrity of state officials. "At first, there may still be many administrators appointed by a transitional authority, but from the very beginning we can make them also accountable to local city council," he said. "It would be the elected city council that would put demands on the bureaucracy and the technocrats and officials." "We need to lessen the degree of corruption. There is wide corruption, so if you make any new appointee accountable to the local people, that will reduce corruption a lot," he said. In addition to local councils, Hamdani said other aspects of civic life need to be revived. "When the Ba'athist government came, they eliminated civic society. A dictator needs only the masses and him, nothing in between. So we need to return to trade unions, professional guilds that will elect their representatives and they will watch the government. The other side is the free press. We need to localize the press, so that each city or province will have its press to monitor the government," Hamdani said. The discussions also dealt with issues such as ensuring local government has revenue, the independence to manage its resources, and the means to account for its monies before local residents. An Iraqi religious figure, Abdulmajid Al-Khoei, offered his view on how to preserve the special status of religious seminaries, like those in Najaf, without imposing state management on religious institutions. Al-Khoei is son of a leading ayatollah who died in 1992 from persecution by the Ba'athist regime and secretary general of the Al-Khoei Foundation, which supports a Shia Muslim community in North London with schools and a mosque. The Al-Khoei Foundation carries on the late ayatollah's tradition of promoting separation of mosque and state while defending Shia rights and culture in Iraq. Iraq contains many diverse religious traditions within its borders. As free Iraqis discuss the possible institutional relationships between religion and state, Hamdani noted that local clerics are one of several social forces affecting the local community. "A governor in Basra is not dealing in foreign affairs or national security. A governor needs to deal with the tribes, the businessmen and with the religious community there. So we need to take their opinions into consideration because that is the work of local government," Hamdani said. Speaking to the Middle East Institute in Washington December 20, Abdulmajid Al-Khoei noted that developing a spirit of democracy would take years. "After all Saddam did to the people, democracy will take time. It's not something you can switch on and off like a light." In the transition to greater democratic governance, he believed religious authorities and tribal authorities would be influential at the grassroots level. Hamdani felt this was particularly true in rural areas. The degree of success in developing local government and civic bodies that allow people to negotiate their needs and differences will be a good indicator of the kind of nation which will emerge from 30 years of dictatorship, Hamdani said. He underscored the value of beginning the process at the town and village level. "From here, we could take the next step for people to choose their representative to a central government or to write a new constitution," he said. Working Group Discusses the Oil Sector The day after the conclusion of the local government meeting, Iraqi-born experts of the oil and gas working group began two days of discussions on the future of that industry. According to a press statement released at the conclusion of their discussions, a key objective of the group was to identify short and medium term priorities for the Iraqi oil and gas sector after a change of government in Baghdad and to determine the necessary components for a restructuring of the industry. "The aspiration of the group is a rehabilitated, globally connected oil and gas sector," it said. "Oil will remain the primary source of revenue and will play a pivotal role in the country's economic reconstruction. The group recognized the need to establish a favorable investment climate and attract international and inward capital in the reconstruction and growth of the industry. It saw the importance of introducing modern technology, know-how and management skills. As a practical matter the group discussed the priority first steps in re-establishing historic capacity," the statement concluded. The two working groups will reconvene in early 2003. They are among the sixteen groups of Iraqi-born experts that will be meeting regularly to examine issues of critical importance to the Iraqi people. Their work is facilitated by the Department of State through the "Future of Iraq Project." (The Washington File is a product of the Office of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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