Talabani’s Historical Role in Iraqi Stability and Governance

Dr Darawan Abdulqader Ahmad.

Written by: Dr Darawan Abdulqader Ahmad
Koya University

The history of Iraq has been full of conflict and wars; political instability and economic turbulence have been the main challenges in the context of Iraq for several years. In post-conflict Iraq, Jalal Talabani had a pivotal role in addressing the key challenges the country and the people of Iraq had suffered from over the past decades. In the transition phase of governance in Iraq, Talabani was the leading actor who worked on building a reliable governance system for the Iraqi government based on constitutional power, rule of law, embedded human rights and democratic values, which were absent in Iraq before. The radical changes that took place in Iraq in terms of elections and governance would not have been achieved without the collaborative efforts of the Iraqis under the main leadership of Talabani with the support of the international allies.

The early months of 2005 were accompanied by upheaval, political instability, security deteriorated, violence and the death toll was on record, and basic infrastructure and public services were devastated. As noted, the people of Iraq had suffered from years of sanctions and wars, and the socio-economic well-being of the public had been exhausted. The years of crisis had pushed people to widespread suffering, thousands were internally displaced, and imposed economic sanctions and embargoes had pushed Iraq into a humanitarian situation. Thus, governing Iraq in the post-conflict years was extremely difficult; the country was in a fragile situation.

Talabani’s diplomatic skills and his strong imperative leadership helped build national relations with various ethnic and religious groups. Talabani’s initiatives for a peaceful transition were welcomed by many of the Iraqi politicians, religious groups and tribes. Talabani was committed to working on softening the Sunni-Shia tensions in the governance process as the transitional government had failed to move Iraq to a more stable and peaceful change, which was expected. Rebuilding governance and restoring the economy and institutions in the post-conflict phase was aimed at providing public services and meeting the basic needs of the Iraqis, whom they had been deprived of for many years.

As a leader since 7 April 2005, Talabani promised to be the president of all ethnic and religious groups in Iraq, regardless of the differences. Talabani was the main contributor to the first Iraqi Constitution of 2005, which was the first ever Constitution the people of Iraq voted on. During the two terms of his presidency, he kept a close eye on rule of law, religious tolerance, consensus, democratization, and coexistence in Iraq. Meanwhile, Talabani was capable of reducing sectarian violence, political tensions, improving regional relations with neighboring countries as well as restoring international relations.

Worth mentioning that Jalal Talabani played a vital role in the Kurdistan Regional Government’s development from the civil war to shared governance between the two main Kurdish political parties, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) since the late 1990s. As the founder and Secretary General of the PUK, he advocated for Kurdish rights, liberty, democracy, and human rights in the Kurdistan Region and Iraq.

Talabani was accustomed to stating a few famous lines from Haji Qadri Koye as follows:

Life and death resemble shadow and light
Where the only thing shall remain is legacy.