Federation Council (Iraq)

Federation Council مجلس الاتحاد (Arabic) کۆنسه‌یا فه‌ده‌راسیۆنێێ (Kurdish)
Type
Type	Bicameral (de jure)
History
Founded	Not convened yet
Preceded by	Senate of Iraq Chamber of Deputies of Iraq Revolutionary Command Council
Elections
Redistricting	Independent High Electoral Commission
Constitution
Constitution of Iraq (2005), Section II, Chapter I

The Federation Council of Iraq ^[a] is the unconvened de jure upper house of the bicameral legislature of Iraq. ^[2]

The constitution of Iraq defines the Federation Council as the upper chamber of Iraq's legislature composed of all governorates and federal regions. It also stipulates that the Federation Council is to be formed by a law passed by the Council of Representatives, but as of December 2025, no bill with two-thirds majority approval has established the upper chamber.

Background

According to Article 65 of the Constitution:

A legislative council shall be established named the "Federation Council", to include representatives from the regions and the governorates that are not organized in a region. A law, enacted by a two-thirds majority of the members of the Council of Representatives, shall regulate the formation of the Federation Council, its membership conditions, its competencies, and all that is connected with it.

The Federation Council shall consist of elected officials from Iraq's federal regions and governorates, and its authorities is to be determined by a law enacted by the Council of Representatives.

Debate

Arguments for the Federation Council

Proponents of the Federation Council (FC) have argued that:

• According to some proponents of FC, Iraq's legislative system is "disjointed" and there is "internal competition or rivalry between the legislative institutions", with the council of representatives occasionally forcing contested laws into effect. Currently, even the president cannot block a bill from being passed regardless of whether he/she signs it. ^[3]

• The FC can balance the proportional representation-based Council of Representatives by allowing for regions and governorates to be directly represented in legislative affairs. ^[4]

• Some Sunni and Shia parties, and the Kurds are already starting to support the implementation. ^[5]

• Despite the fact that 78.59% of voters chose to implement the current constitution of Iraq, some of its articles are yet to be implemented. This could have prevented the 2017 Kurdish independence referendum and consequently, the 2017 Iraqi–Kurdish conflict. ^[6]

• The Council of Representatives has been criticised before for passing laws that further added tension between the central government and the Kurdistan Region and between Iraq's three main components. ^[7]

• The FC can function as a guarantor of decentralisation by ensuring that the Council of Representatives does not consolidate disproportionate power. ^[8]

• The FC can improve internal security of Iraq's governorates by passing legislation that allows for the devolution of internal security administration –such as law enforcement– to provincial authorities. ^[9]

• Federalism in Iraq can only function properly when democratic institutions function as a bastion against a dictatorship of the majority. ^[10]

References

1. "Explainer: What is Iraq's Federal Council that Barzani is pushing to create?". The National Context. 2025-11-24. Retrieved 2025-12-11.
2. "FAOLEX". FAOHome. Retrieved 2024-07-26.
3. Ala’Aldeen, Dlawer (2024-02-29). "Without a Federation Council, State-building in Iraq remains elusive". www.meri-k.org. Retrieved 2025-12-11. Successive Presidents have argued that they retain the constitutional right to return a new legislation to the Parliament without ratification, but only once. In reality, the Parliament can persist with the legislation and ignore the President, except that he/she retains the ability to prevent the enactment of the new legislation by preventing its publication in the official Gazzet, Al-Waqai Al-Iraqiya
4. "Explainer: What is Iraq's Federal Council that Barzani is pushing to create?". The National Context. 2025-11-24. Retrieved 2025-12-11. The idea behind the Federal Council is to balance population-based representation in the lower house with territorial or region-based representation in the upper house. In practice, it is meant to protect federal regions such as the Kurdistan Region and to provide a forum for settling disputes between Baghdad, regions, and provinces.
5. Chomani, Kamal (2018-11-08). "Iraq's Missing Federation Council". Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy . Establishing the Federation Council has been one of the least discussed issues but a serious demand of the Kurds, now some Shiite and Sunni parties similarly back it
6. Chomani, Kamal (2018-11-08). "Iraq's Missing Federation Council". Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy . The failure to implement the constitution was one of the main reasons used to justify the Kurdish independence referendum.
7. Chomani, Kamal (2018-11-08). "Iraq's Missing Federation Council". Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy . Although the Council of Representatives has been one of the most active Iraqi institutions, it has been criticized for passing laws that have sometimes further divided these conflicting sides or for failing to pass desperately needed laws that would help the country end contradicting Baghdad-Erbil interpretations of the constitution.
8. Chomani, Kamal (2018-11-08). "Iraq's Missing Federation Council". Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy . The Federation Council could have checked the laws passed by the lower house, and the requirement of a two-thirds majority to pass laws would have made it impossible for any political side in the Council of Representatives to impose its will over others.
9. Chomani, Kamal (2018-11-08). "Iraq's Missing Federation Council". Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy . Strengthening decentralization and empowering governorates and regions is in line with the constitution. Moreover, decentralization of power is essential for stability of Iraq, as local administrations can protect their areas through local police rather than militias.
10. Chomani, Kamal (2018-11-08). "Iraq's Missing Federation Council". Tahrir Institute for Middle East Policy . In the area of political disputes and political conflicts, federalism may be very suitable for power sharing, but democratic institutions need to be present to guarantee that the regions and governorates can protect themselves from the majority when it wants to impose its will.

Notes

1. also known as the Council of Union^{[ citation needed ]}, or simply the Federal Council ^[1] (Arabic: مجلس الاتحاد, romanized: Majlis al-Ittiḥād; Kurdish: کۆنسه‌یا فه‌ده‌راسیۆنێ, Konseya Federasyonê)