The Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) was the provisional government of

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

from 13 July 2003 to 1 June 2004. It was established by and served under the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

-led

Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = ArabicKurdish English (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Jay ...

(CPA). The IGC consisted of various Iraqi political and tribal leaders who were appointed by the CPA to provide advice and leadership of the country until the June 2004 transfer of sovereignty to the

Iraqi Interim Government The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the drafting of the new constitution following the National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005. T ...

(which was replaced in May 2005 by the

Iraqi Transitional Government 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 Ira ...

, which was then replaced the following year by the first permanent government). The Council consisted of 25 members. Its ethnic and religious breakdown included 13

Shias Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, mos ...

, five Sunnis, five Kurds (also Sunnis), one Turkmen and an Assyrian. Three of its members were women. In September 2003, the Iraqi Governing Council gained regional recognition from the Arab League, which agreed to seat its representative in Iraq's chair at its meetings. On 1 June 2004, the Council dissolved after choosing member

Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawer Ghazi Mashal Ajil al-Yawar ( ar, غازي مشعل عجيل الياور, born 1958) is an Iraqi politician. He was the vice president under the Iraqi Transitional Government in 2006, and was interim president of Iraq under the Iraqi Interim Gov ...

as the president of the new

Iraq interim government The Iraqi Interim Government was created by the United States and its coalition allies as a caretaker government to govern Iraq until the drafting of the new constitution following the National Assembly election conducted on January 30, 2005. ...

. Full sovereignty was transferred to the interim government (and the CPA dissolved) on 28 June.

General information

Though subject to the authority of the CPA administrator

Paul Bremer Lewis Paul Bremer III (born September 30, 1941) is an American diplomat. He led the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) following the 2003 invasion of Iraq by the United States, from May 2003 until June 2004. Early life and education Born on ...

, the council had several key powers of its own. Their duties included appointing representatives to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoniz ...

, appointing interim ministers to Iraq's vacant cabinet positions, and drafting a temporary

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princ ...

, the

Transitional Administrative Law The Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period ( ar, قانون إدارة الدولة للفترة الانتقالية), also called the Transitional Administrative Law or TAL, was Iraq's provisional constitution fol ...

(TAL). The TAL spelled out the provisions which were to govern the

, and the timeline for holding elections to a National Assembly, drafting of a permanent constitution to be voted on by the Iraqi people, and elections to a permanent government. Despite having to answer to the CPA, different factions took on controversial stands. Religious hardliners won a solid victory when Directive 137 was passed on 29 December 2003. Passed by the council in less than 15 minutes, it replaced Iraq's former secular family law code with

Shari'a Sharia (; ar, شريعة, sharīʿa ) is a body of religious law that forms a part of the Islamic tradition. It is derived from the religious precepts of Islam and is based on the sacred scriptures of Islam, particularly the Quran and the ...

family law. This move met with wide protest among many Iraqi women fearful of how it will affect their freedom to make their own decisions about marriage, alimony, and many other issues where Iraq used to be a leader in the Arab world for

women's rights Women's rights are the rights and entitlements claimed for women and girls worldwide. They formed the basis for the women's rights movement in the 19th century and the feminist movements during the 20th and 21st centuries. In some countries, ...

. Other legislation passed by the council included declaring the day that

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

fell to be a national holiday, voting to establish a tribunal to try former government leaders, and banning television stations which are deemed to be supportive of the resistance. A new flag chosen by the council for post-Saddam Iraq created much controversy, in part because of the similarity of color and design with the

flag of Israel The flag of Israel ( he, דגל ישראל '; ar, علم إسرائيل ') was adopted on 28 October 1948, five months after the establishment of the State of Israel. It depicts a blue hexagram on a white background, between two horizontal blu ...

, and the flag was not adopted. According to the

Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period The Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period ( ar, قانون إدارة الدولة للفترة الانتقالية), also called the Transitional Administrative Law or TAL, was Iraq's provisional constitution fol ...

, the interim

that the Council approved, the Council would cease to function after 30 June 2004, at which point full sovereignty would return to Iraq, and the government will be handed over to a new, sovereign interim government. Instead, the council chose to dissolve itself prematurely.

Presidents of the Iraqi Governing Council

Council Members

The Presidency of the council rotated monthly among eleven of its members. A (p) marks those members above.

Cabinet

On 1 September 2003, the council named its first cabinet. They were: *Minister of Communications –

Haider al-Abadi Haider Jawad Kadhim al-Abadi ( ar, 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 fro ...

*Minister of Public Works – Nisrin Barwari *Minister of Construction and Housing – Baqir Jabr al-Zubeidi *Minister of the Environment – Abderrahman Sadik Karim *Minister of Trade –

Ali Allawi Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi (Arabic: علي عبد الامير علاوي) (born 1947) was Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister He is an Iraqi politician and scholar. From May 2020 to August 2022, he ran as Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister a ...

*Minister of Planning – Mahdi al-Hafez *Minister of Education – Alaa Abdessaheb al-Alwan *Minister of Higher Education – Ziad Abderrazzak Mohammad Aswad *Minister of Culture –

Mufid Mohammad Jawad al-Jazairi Mufid Mohammad Jawad al-Jazairi (born 1939) was Minister of Culture in the cabinet appointed by the Interim Iraq Governing Council in September 2003 and in the Iraqi Interim Government. A Shia Muslim and member of the Iraqi Communist Party' centr ...

*Minister of Human Rights –

Abdel Basset Turki Abdel Basset Turki al-Hadithi was Minister of Human Rights in the cabinet appointed by the Iraq Interim Governing Council in September 2003. He resigned in April 2004 in protest at the deaths of over 600 Iraqis during the siege of Falluja. In No ...

(resigned April 2004) *Minister of Foreign Affairs –

Hoshyar Zebari Hoshyar Mahmud Mohammed Zebari, also simply known as Hoshyar Zebari (also spelled ''Hoshyar Zebari/Zibari'', Kurdish: ''Hişyar Zêbarî''; born 23 September 1953) is an Iraqi politician who formerly served as the Deputy Prime Minister of Iraq in ...

*Minister of Interior – Nuri Badran (resigned April 2004 and replaced by Samir Sumaidaie) *Minister of Agriculture – Abdel Amir Abbud Rahima *Minister of Sport and Youth – Ali Faik al-Ghabban *Minister of Health – Dr. Khodayyir Abbas *Minister of Industry and Minerals – Mohammad Tofiq Rahim *Minister of Justice – Hashim Abderrahman al-Shibli *Minister of Science and Technology – Rashad Mandan Omar *Minister of Work and Social Affairs – Sami Azara al-Majun *Minister of Electricity – Aiham Alsammarae *Minister of Finance – Kamel al-Kilani *Minister of Immigration and Refugees –

Mohammad Jassem Khodayyir Mohammad Jassem Khodayyir was Minister for Immigration in the cabinet appointed by the Interim Iraq Governing Council in September 2003. A Shia Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic ...

*Minister of Water Resources –

Latif Rashid Abdul Latif Rashid (; born 10 August 1944), also known as Latif Rashid () is an Iraqi Kurdish politician and the ninth president of Iraq, following the 2022 Iraqi presidential election. He was previously the Minister of Water Resources under th ...

*Minister of Oil – Ibrahim Mohammad Bahr al-Ulloum *Minister of Transport – Bahnam Zaya Bulos The Saddam-era positions of Minister of Defense and Minister of Information were dissolved.

References

External links

Iraqi Interim Governing Council
{{Iraq War Governing Council Coalition Provisional Authority 2003 establishments in Iraq 2004 disestablishments in Iraq