The Sovereignty Council 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 ...

was a presidential council formed in the wake of the military coup on 14 July 1958. It administered the functions of the

Presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified b ...

of the Republic of Iraq . It was dissolved in the wake of the 8 February 1963 coup.

Functions of the Council

According to the 20th article of the Iraqi Interim constitution of 1958, the council had the authority of the Presidency in the Republic of Iraq on a temporary basis, until a presidential election was held (The Presidency Council has the authority of the President and two deputies).

Authority

According to the 21st article of the interim constitution, the Council approved legislation issued by the

Government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

. The same article granted legislative power to the Council of Ministers. The purpose of the Sovereignty Council was to authenticate the legislation issued by the government. The council was incapable of exercising objection to government legislation, as the real power lay in the hands of Prime Minister

Abd al-Karim Qasim Abd al-Karim Qasim Muhammad Bakr al-Fadhli al-Zubaidi ( ar, عبد الكريم قاسم ' ) (21 November 1914 – 9 February 1963) was an Iraqi Army brigadier and nationalist who came to power when the Iraqi monarchy was overthrown d ...

. In 1959

dissolved the council, and then re-established it. The council was dissolved quietly after the success of the coup on 8 February 1963 .

Council members

Muhammad Najib ar-Ruba'i Muhammad Najib Ar-Ruba'i ( ar, محمد نجيب الربيعي) (also spelled Al-Rubai) (1904–1965) was the first president of Iraq (Chairman of Sovereignty Council), from July 14, 1958 to February 8, 1963. Together with Abdul Karim Qassi ...

was Chairman of the council and

President of Iraq The president of Iraq is the head of state of Iraq and "safeguards the commitment to the Constitution and the preservation of Iraq's independence, sovereignty, unity, the security of its territories in accordance with the provisions of the Con ...

by virtue of the Functions of the council. He remained in office from 14 July 1958 till 8 February 1963. He was not subjected to prosecution after the coup. He died in

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 ...

in 1965 and was honored by a state funeral. * Muhammad Mahdi Kubba (born 1900, Samarra – died 1984). Soon after the failed Mosul uprising in 1959 he was put under house arrest. His final appearance at a meeting of the Sovereignty Council was in February 1959, although no resignation was made public. * Khalid al-Naqshabandi (born 1916,

Amadiya Amedi or Amadiya ( ku, ئامێدی, Amêdî, ; Syriac: , Amədya), is a town in the Duhok Governorate of Kurdistan Region of Iraq. It is built on a mesa in the broader Great Zab river valley. Etymology According to Ali ibn al-Athir, the name ...

), died in office in November 1961. * Rashad Arif (born 1910), appointed on 1 December 1961 * Abd al-Majid Kamunah (born 1911, Karbala), appointed on 1 December 1961

External links

Iraqi interim constitution of 1958
{{Presidents of Iraq Government of Iraq * Military dictatorships