Dates of last and next legislative elections:  2000/In transition

Head of state: Vacant

AT THE LAST ELECTION

Saddam Hussein dominated politics after overthrowing his predecessor in 1979, and held power through a brutal dictatorship until his dramatic removal following a US-led invasion in 2003.

Profile

Saddam Hussein's period in power was dominated by warfare and its consequences: he launched an eight-year war against neighboring Iran within a year of coming to power, and in 1990 invaded Kuwait. A US-led alliance forced him to withdraw in 1991 and a harsh policy of international sanctions was imposed. Viciously crushing dissent, he remained in power throughout the 1990s, and even succeeded in drawing support against the sanctions from previously hostile Arab neighbors and other countries. In March 2003, with UN weapons inspectors still failing to uncover his alleged arsenal of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), a US-led Coalition invaded Iraq and ousted Saddam Hussein within three weeks. The removal of the Ba'athist regime and the ensuing power vacuum raised major concerns over the security and structure of a postwar, post–Saddam-Hussein Iraq.

Main Political Issues

Postwar reconstruction

The standard of living had dropped dramatically under the UN sanctions in the 1990s, and this, coupled with the brutality of the Ba'athist regime, paved the way for the government's rapid fall in 2003. While many welcomed the ouster of Saddam Hussein, few were happy at the prospect of a US-controlled regime, and estimates of the 2003 civilian death toll are as high as 10,000. Potential future leaders for Iraq are likely to be drawn from the previously exiled, and often US-backed, opposition. The fact that companies from Coalition countries are being favored for reconstruction contracts has prompted accusations of a new economic imperialism. As anti-Coalition guerrilla action has intensified and discontent within the Shi'a community has grown, the US is under pressure to accelerate its timetable for handing over power.

Ethnic and religious tensions

Though the Ba'athist regime drew its members from across Iraqi society and began by asserting its secularity, in reality much power was concentrated in the hands of the Sunni Muslim Tikriti tribe of Saddam Hussein. Domestic opposition became centered on the Kurds in the north and the Shi'a Marsh Arabs in the south. Suppression was ruthless. Chemical agents were used against the Kurds in the late 1980s and the ecosystem of the southern marshes was deliberately destroyed in the early 1990s. It was feared that the 2003 invasion would unleash the potential for ethnic and religious tensions.

From "The Financial Times World Desk Reference" © Dorling Kindersley 2004