The Council of Representatives is the de facto unicameral legislature of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, it is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the country. The Federation Council is the unconvened de jure upper house.
As of 2020, the Council of Representatives comprises 329 seats and meets in Baghdad inside the Green Zone.
The Iraqi Transitional Government was the government of Iraq from May 3, 2005, when it replaced the Iraqi Interim Government, until May 20, 2006, when it was replaced by a permanent government.
On April 28 it was approved by the transitional Iraqi National Assembly, which had been elected in January 2005. It operated under the Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period, and its main functions were to draft a permanent Constitution of Iraq and to form a transitional government.
The War in Iraq (2013–2017) was an armed conflict between Iraq and its allies and the Islamic State. Following December 2013, the insurgency escalated into a full-scale war following clashes in parts of western Iraq, which culminated in the Islamic State offensive into Iraq in June 2014, leading to the capture of the cities of Mosul, Tikrit and other cities in western and northern Iraq by the Islamic State. Between 4–9 June 2014, the city of Mosul was attacked and later fell; following this, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki called for a national state of emergency on 10 June. However, despite the security crisis, Iraq's parliament did not allow Maliki to declare a state of emergency; many legislators boycotted the session because they opposed expanding the prime minister's powers. Ali Ghaidan, a former military commander in Mosul, accused al-Maliki of being the one who issued the order to withdraw from the city of Mosul. At its height, ISIL held 56,000 square kilometers of Iraqi territory, containing 4.5 million citizens.
The war resulted in the forced resignation of al-Maliki in 2014, as well as an airstrike campaign by the United States and a dozen other countries in support of the Iraqi military, participation of American and Canadian troops (predominantly special forces) in ground combat operations, a $3.5 billion U.S.-led program to rearm the Iraqi security forces, a U.S.-led training program that provided training to nearly 200,000 Iraqi soldiers and police, the participation of the military of Iran, including troops as well as armored and air elements, and military and logistical aid provided to Iraq by Russia. On 9 December 2017, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced victory over the Islamic State. The Islamic State switched to guerrilla "hit and run" tactics in an effort to undermine the Iraqi government's effort to eradicate it. This conflict is interpreted by some in Iraq as a spillover of the Syrian civil war. Other Iraqis and observers see it mainly as a culmination of long-running local sectarianism, exacerbated by the 2003–2011 Iraq War, the subsequent increase in anti-Sunni sectarianism under Prime Minister al-Maliki, and the ensuing bloody crack-down on the 2012–2013 Iraqi protests.
Iraq consists of 19 governorates (Arabic: محافظة, romanized: muḥāfażah; Kurdish: پارێزگا, romanized: parêzgeh), also known as "provinces". Per the Iraqi constitution, governorates can form a federal region. Four governorates, Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Halabja and Duhok, constitute the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Region. Baghdad (which is the most populous) and Basra are the oldest governorates. The second most-populous one, Ninawa (or Nineveh) is in the upland region and has a cooler climate of the north-west.
There had been numerous calls to recognize Halabja Governorate since 1999. It was recognized as an official governorate of the Kurdistan Region in 2014, and the Council of Ministers approved a bill twice in 2013, and 2023. The Council of Representatives of Iraq officially approved Halabja as Iraq's 19th governorate on 14 April 2025. On 27 April 2025, Baghdad Today reported of an ongoing government initiative to convert Tel Afar District in Nineveh Governorate into the 20th governorate of Iraq. The proposed name of the new governorate is Jazira.
Halabja Governorate (Kurdish: پارێزگای ھەڵەبجە, romanized: Parêzgay Helebceyê, Arabic: محافظة حلبجة, romanized: Muḥāfaẓat Ḥalabja) is a governorate in the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan Region in Iraq. The governorate was established in 2014, splitting off from Sulaymaniyah Governorate and becoming the fourth governorate in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. Its capital is the city of Halabja. Halabja Governorate is the least populated governorate.
Although officially recognized by Kurdistan Regional Government, the Iraqi government had not officially recognized it until April 14th 2025 due to postponing of the hearing regarding its status multiple times by the Council of Representatives of Iraq, which is the only legislature in Iraq capable of declaring it as such.
Iraq has had three vice presidents or deputy presidents serving concurrently.
The office of Vice President was historically largely ceremonial but prestigious. In post-war Iraq, the Constitution of Iraq, in its "Transitional Guidelines," creates a three-member presidency (or presidential) council, consisting of the president of Iraq and two deputy presidents, who must act in unison. The presidency council had three members to accommodate Iraq's three largest groups: Sunni Muslim Arabs, Shiite Muslim Arabs, and the mostly Sunni Kurds. As a unit, the Presidency Council was meant to symbolize the unity of the nation. This arrangement is required by the constitution to continue until the Council of Representatives, enters its second set of sessions. At this point, the Presidency Council would be replaced by a solitary President of the Republic, who would have only one deputy, the vice-president. In any case, the Presidency is appointed by the Council of Representatives. The three-member arrangement was a hold-over from the Iraqi Interim Government and the Iraqi Transitional Government.
Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi (Arabic: حيدر جواد كاظم العبادي; born 25 April 1952) is an Iraqi politician who was Prime Minister of Iraq from September 2014 until October 2018. Previously he served as Minister of Communication from 2003 to 2004, in the first government after Saddam Hussein was deposed.
He was designated as prime minister by President Fuad Masum on 11 August 2014 to succeed Nouri al-Maliki and was approved by the Iraqi parliament on 8 September 2014. Al-Abadi was included in Time magazine's 100 Most Influential People of 2018.
The Council of Ministers is the principal executive organ of the Federal Government of the Republic of Iraq.
The Council of Representatives of Iraq elects a President of the Republic who appoints the Prime Minister who in turn appoints the Council of Ministers, all of whom must be approved by the Assembly.