Editing Politics of Iraq (section)

====Federal regions====
{{main|Federal regions of Iraq}}
The constitution requires that the Council of Representatives enact a law which provides the procedures for forming a new region 6 months from the start of its first session.<ref>[[Constitution of Iraq]], Article 114</ref> A law was passed  11 October 2006 by a unanimous vote with only 138 of 275 representatives present, with the remaining representatives boycotting the vote.<ref>{{Citation | last = Muir | first = Jim | publication-date = 2006-10-11 | title = Iraq passes regional autonomy law | publication-place = Baghdad | publisher = BBC News | url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6041916.stm | access-date = 2008-11-09 | archive-date = 2018-10-03 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20181003104455/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/6041916.stm | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="draft_regions_law">{{Citation | title = Draft of the Law on the Operational Procedures for the Creation of Regions | url = http://www.niqash.org/intern/getBin.php?id=367 | access-date = 2008-11-09 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090301054521/http://www.niqash.org/intern/getBin.php?id=367 | archive-date = 2009-03-01 }}</ref> Legislators from the [[Iraqi Accord Front]], [[Sadrist Movement]] and [[Islamic Virtue Party]] all opposed the bill.<ref>{{Citation | title=Iraqi parliament approves federal law | url=http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=IBO145418&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-4 |date=2006-10-11 | access-date=2008-04-18 }}{{dead link|date=July 2021|bot=medic|fix-attempted=yes}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

Under the law, a region can be created out of one or more existing [[Governorates of Iraq|governorates]] or two or more existing regions, and a governorate can also join an existing region to create a new region. A new region can be proposed by one third or more of the council members in each affected governorate plus 500 voters or by one tenth or more voters in each affected governorate. A referendum must then be held within three months, which requires a simple majority in favour to pass. In the event of competing proposals, the multiple proposals are put to a ballot and the proposal with the most supporters is put to the referendum. In the event of an affirmative referendum a Transitional Legislative Assembly is elected for one year, which has the task of writing a constitution for the Region, which is then put to a referendum requiring a simple majority to pass. The President, Prime Minister and Ministers of the region are elected by simple majority, in contrast to the [[Iraqi Council of Representatives]] which requires two thirds support.<ref name="draft_regions_law"/>

The northern [[Kurdistan Region]] emerged in 1992 with its own local government and parliament officially recognised in 2005 following the adoption of the new constitution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Political History of the Kurds |url=https://www.voanews.com/a/extremism-watch_political-history-kurds/6178024.html |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=VOA |date=22 October 2019 |language=en |archive-date=2022-03-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316194009/https://www.voanews.com/a/extremism-watch_political-history-kurds/6178024.html |url-status=live }}</ref>