Shafaq News – Basra
Debate over the establishment of a southern Iraqi region has resurfaced in Basra after the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) launched official forms to collect signatures in support of the proposal, triggering widespread discussion across political and media circles.
The move follows long-standing complaints in the oil-rich province over weak public services, stalled development projects, and what residents describe as insufficient authority and funding to address local needs, with supporters arguing that greater autonomy could accelerate reconstruction.
Legal expert Ali Al-Tamimi told Shafaq News that Iraq’s constitution explicitly allows the formation of regions, citing Articles 116 through 121, which permit the creation of a region from one or more provinces or accession to an existing region, in line with Article 1 defining Iraq as a federal parliamentary state. He added that Article 13 establishes the constitution as the supreme law and prevents restricting this right.
Al-Tamimi said Law No. 13 of 2008 regulates the process, allowing a request to be submitted either by one-third of a provincial council’s members or by one-tenth of registered voters, before referral to the Council of Ministers and then to IHEC to organize a referendum.
He explained that the referendum requires participation by at least half of eligible voters and approval by a simple majority, after which steps would follow to form regional institutions and draft a regional constitution.
If a request is rejected, Al-Tamimi said applicants may appeal to the Federal Supreme Court under Article 93 of the constitution, noting that its rulings are final and binding under Article 94. The law also allows the request to be resubmitted after one year.
He rejected claims that regional formation would fragment Iraq or disrupt resource distribution, stressing that revenue sharing is constitutionally regulated and that the creation of independent states requires international decisions by the United Nations and the Security Council.
Calls for a Basra region date back to the period following the 2003 US-led invasion, inspired in part by the Kurdistan Region, Iraq’s only federal region to date, but previous attempts stalled due to political, legal, economic, and social obstacles.
The renewed push has drawn mixed reactions on social media, with supporters viewing the initiative as a constitutional right and opponents warning of administrative and political complications, citing earlier efforts that failed to reach a referendum.
Since 2003, calls for forming new regions in Iraq have periodically resurfaced during political or security crises, often framed as a federal solution to governance failures and sectarian tensions. Proposals have ranged from creating a southern region centered on Basra to broader ideas of dividing the country into Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish regions, though none have materialized beyond the Kurdistan Region, Iraq’s only federal region to date, due to legal, political, economic, and social obstacles.