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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,

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RAQ

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