Sheikh Dr. Hammam Hammoudi: The topic of choosing the prime minister has been debated since the constitution was written

Sheikh Dr. Hammam Hammoudi, former First Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and former Chairman of the Constitution Writing Committee, stressed the importance of the dialogue session organized by the Iraqi Institute for Dialogue on the topic of "Iraqi elections and the mechanism for selecting the Prime Minister", under the patronage of the First Deputy of Parliament, Mr. Mohsen Al Mandalawi, and with the participation of the European Foundation for Dialogue.

Sheikh Hammoudi pointed out that the issue of choosing the prime minister has been the subject of discussion since the constitution was written, noting that the challenge was between giving the people the direct right to choose or relying on the political decision of the electoral blocs.

He explained that the general vision during the drafting of the constitution was to break Iraq's 40-year-long system of individual rule and move towards political stability that takes into account coordination among all components, while ensuring a broader democracy, away from the centralization of power and individualism.

Hammoudi added that although there were different opinions within the constitution drafting committee, the basic orientation was that the bloc that gets the highest electoral votes has the right to choose the prime minister, with the need to take into account consensus among political components to achieve national stability, noting that "the direction of the reference has always been that the people are the source of authority."

He said that the constitution is built on the idea of democracy in its highest degree, while he pointed out that changing or amending the constitution is difficult but possible, as most texts are concluded with the phrase "and this shall be regulated by law," as the law can be amended, pointing out that "the mechanism for choosing the prime minister is one of the most important foundations on which the political system is built."

He added, "The Constitution Writing Committee took the highest degree of democracy and the full right of the people to choose, while achieving political consensus to ensure the inclusion of all components and avoid the monopolization of power by the majority, so that all Iraqis become contributors to governance."

"The issue of the selection of the government by the largest component was resolved by a decision of the Federal Court, which decided that it is the bloc that is formed within the House of Representatives," Sheikh Hammoudi explained, in his capacity as head of the constitution writing committee.

He pointed out, "Changing or amending the constitution is difficult but possible, and we as the Constitution Drafting Committee were keen to shape the constitution with very high flexibility, as most of the texts were sealed with the phrase "and this shall be regulated by law", as the law can be amended and changed through jurists whenever the need arises," noting that "amending the constitution is possible according to conditions that may need a certain time, but it is also possible."

He added that "the constitution was built on the idea of democracy in its highest degree, in addition to consensus, considering that there is diversity in Iraqi society and considering that the previous regime was a minority ruling a majority and dealing with religious, national and sectarian oppression, and the trend was to stabilize the country and come through consensus between the components."

Sheikh Hamoudi continued his talk, that "everyone participates in the government is not consensus but the participation of Iraqis in the government, so there are those who tend that the choice is not in the hands of the people, because the people are a clear majority, but they tend to political consensus is the one who chooses the prime minister," pointing out, "When we wrote the constitution, we opened a room for amendments within the law, but not in the constitutional text can be amended a lot through laws, there are more than 50 articles that end regulating this by law, which is an opportunity for flexibility for the Iraqi constitution."

He emphasized that the dialogue session represents an important opportunity to exchange experiences and ideas on how to strengthen the democratic process and ensure that the selection of the prime minister is a balanced step between the will of the people and the national interest.