December 20th, 2007 by Celest

Yesterday, the International Organizations, Human Rights and Oversight Subcommittee of the House Foreign Affairs Committee held a hearing to investigate if Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s request for an extension of the UN mandate for coalition in forces in Iraq without the approval of the Iraqi Parliament was unconstitutional under the Iraqi Constitution. This is debatable because the Iraqi Constitution says that the Iraqi Parliament must approve all international treaties and agreements, and it is questionable if extending the UN mandate in Iraq qualifies as an international agreement.

The witnesses were Michael Rubin, Ph.D., Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research; Issam Michael Saliba, Esq., Senior Foreign Law Specialist, Middle East and North Africa, Law Library of Congress; Kenneth Katzman, Ph.D. Specialist in Middle East Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Defense and Trade Division, Congressional Research Service; and Raed Jarrar, Iraq Consultant, Middle East Peace Building Program, American Friends Service Committee. Chairman Bill Delahunt (D-MA) and Ranking Member Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) both made opening statements.

The hearing was not able to conclusively say if Maliki’s actions were unconstitutional as the witnesses were split on if this was actually the case. The Q&A session covered many topics including the representativeness of Iraq’s electoral system and how Iraq’s democracy is evolving.

For POMED’s full notes, click here.

Posted in Committee Meetings, Democracy Promotion, Iraq, US foreign policy, United Nations |