The biggest problem is that the laws that have been passed up until now are not so important. The new laws, ones that are critical to the country’s future – such as laws on the National Guard, the oil and gas law, legislation on the highest court in Iraq and its powers and the formation of the Federation Council, another political body, similar to the US Senate, that is supposed to provide checks and balances – have all been shelved because they are simply too divisive. This is despite the fact that laws around the National Guard or the courts could unite the country and help in the fight against the extremist group known as the Islamic State. Parliament is also supposed to be reformulating Iraq’s Constitution.
Then again, even if the MPs were able to be persuaded to return to work, it would be difficult to get anything done. As Munther al-Sharifi, one of the members of the committee that has been coordinating the protestors, told NIQASH: “There are no agreements between the different blocs and they don’t even come close to having positions they can compromise on. The political system in Iraq has failed as a result of the quota system. However,” he cautioned, “if we change the system now, it could lead to the return of a dictatorship.”
But if Parliament in Iraq has failed and cannot succeed, that begs an important question: What are the alternatives for Iraqi politics? And how to bring about that change?
A Presidential Solution
One of the most popular ideas is a change to the role of Iraq’s President. A change like this would mean that rather than elected MPs in Baghdad choosing the country's President, voters would choose the President, who could then work somewhat separately from the also-elected Parliament. For example, the US is a presidential system. Iraq currently has a parliamentary system. And in some ways, this could well be a way to solve the Parliamentary gridlock.
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