Abdulrahman Sh. A. The Problematic Distribution of Fiscal Powers and Its Impact on Financial Sovereignty: Iraq as a Model

Abstract

Before 2003, the management of the country’s affairs in Iraq, particularly local administration (governorates, districts, and sub-districts), suffered from a highly centralized system of governance, which was inconsistent with the aspirations and expectations of the people in obtaining essential services and basic needs. In addition, there was a lack of the level of welfare that Iraqi citizens should enjoy, considering Iraq’s natural wealth.

After the issuance of the Iraqi Constitution in 2005, the form of the state and its system of governance were defined. Iraq became a federal state with a parliamentary system, consisting of a region and several governorates. Furthermore, the Iraqi Constitution granted substantial powers to the region and governorates. These powers could be either exclusive or shared, as the Constitution provided significant authorities and privileges, particularly financial ones, to the units forming the federal Iraqi state without referring to the central government, according to the principle of administrative decentralization—especially after the issuance of the Law of Governorates Not Attached to a Region in 2008.