Hakim outlines vision of elected and modern Iraq government
Iraq, Politics, 5/12/2003

Iraq's most prominent Muslim leader said on Saturday the country's future government should be a freely elected one that "respects Islam" and upholds unity while recognizing the rights of the various Iraqi ethnic and religious groups.

At a lengthy news conference after his return from 23 years in Iranian exile, the head of the Supreme Assembly of the Islamic Revolution in Iraq (SAIRI), Ayatollah Mohammed Baqer al-Hakim, emphasised that the Iraqi state he envisages would be a "modern" one.

The 66-year-old cleric declared his model state would display tolerance toward the country's mosaic of ethnic and religious groups.

Iraq should have a system of governance with five characteristics, said Hakim, whose news conference effectively turned into a speech interrupted by religious chants from the crowd.

The first is freedom, and while "one of the gains" of the US-led war was the "measure of freedom" which the Iraqis now enjoyed, freedom in the presence of foreign forces could not be total, he said.

Iraq's future government should be "based on the will of the Iraqi people, that is it should be elected by them -- democratic if you will," Hakim said.

Thirdly, Iraq should have a system of government that "respects Islam, the religion of the overwhelming majority of the Iraqi people." Islam should be Iraq's official religion, and Sharia, or Islamic law, should be a "main source" of legislation, the greying cleric said, stressing that the future regime should "respect Islamic values."

At the same time, the fourth characteristic of Iraq's future government should be "respect for the specificities of the components of the Iraqi population" -- a mixture of Shiites, Sunni Muslims, Christians, Kurds, Turkoman and others.

Finally, the future government should embody the unity of Iraq in terms of people and land, he said.

Hakim said that while some of the slogans he raises might be perceived as "religious," he envisaged a "modern state, in the full sense of the word" in line with what he called Islam's reformist tradition.

In such a state, women, "who make up half of society," would play their full role and young people's "potential would be exploited to the highest degree." A modern state would "promote construction and development," said Hakim. And with its formidable human and economic resources and long history, Iraq had the potential to turn into a "great" country given the proper government.

The Shiite leader, reiterated SAIRI's longstanding argument that the US-led war was not necessary because the Iraqi people could have toppled Saddam if they had received adequate "assistance from the international community." However, he issued a sweeping indictment of the former regime, whose dictatorial nature not only surpassed that of other autocratic regimes in the Arab and Islamic world but whose "racism" was no less than that of the former apartheid regime in South Africa.

Previous Stories:
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  First shipment of Syrian aid to Iraq   (5/10/2003)
  Washington calls UN to lift sanctions on Iraq, asks for annual authorizations   (5/9/2003)

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