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in recent years there have been some incidents of violence between
Kurdish Muslims and Assyrian Christians. The Assyrian Christian
population in Iraq is estimated at between 600,000 and 1 million.
T
HE
G
OVERNMENT OF
I
RAQ
Following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime in April 2003,
the Bush administration hoped to establish a democratic govern-
ment in Iraq. After several attempts, an Iraqi Governing Council
was established, with 25 members representing Iraq’s various sec-
tarian groups. The Governing Council’s powers were very limited,
however. In addition, because its members were chosen by U.S.
authorities in the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), the
Governing Council never gained the trust of the Iraqi people.
In March 2004 the Governing Council passed an interim consti-
tution, which paved the way for the announcement of an interim
prime minister the following month. In June the CPA formally
transferred authority to Iraq’s interim government, which was
headed by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, a Shiite. A Sunni was chosen
for the largely ceremonial post of interim president.
In January 2005, Iraqis voted for members of the Transitional
National Assembly. The United Iraqi Alliance, a Shiite party, won
the most seats. Kurdish parties also made a strong showing, large-
ly because most Sunnis boycotted the election. A new constitu-
tion—which was supposed to create a federal democracy—was
approved in October 2005.
In elections held in December to select members of a permanent
parliament, called the Council of Representatives, the United Iraqi
Alliance again came out on top. Still, it did not gain a majority of
seats, and while Iraq was being torn apart by sectarian violence,
months of political gridlock ensued. Finally, a government was
formed under Nouri al-Maliki of the Shiite Dawa Party.
In Iraq’s current government, the president is the head of state,
I
RAQ
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