In an unprecedented manner, right-wing political parties in Iraq are building alliances with the left and liberal parties. They do not consider these coalitions unusual or strange.
The scene becomes more bizarre as the US, which is considered the "godfather" of the political process in Iraq, continues to sponsor this controversial scenario, despite its great animosity to the right-wing Islamic parties and its historical opposition to leftist movements.
The conservative, religious and ethnic forces have succeeded in applying this strange political equation to the Iraqi political decision-making process.
They were also able to achieve their goals by setting up their own agenda in the framework of the constitution. Moreover, they also guaranteed the approval of the liberal and left forces for all their policies.
This gave them the strength to refute any doubts about their political intentions.
Federalism, that was brought into Iraq in haste and was forced into constitution, has become a notion which sets Iraq apart from other Arab countries.
The concept of federalism entered Iraq along with "democracy", giving the impression that they both go hand-in-hand and are inter-related.
All the political fronts that are backing and promoting federalism in Iraq did not hesitate in paving the road for implementing it. They legalised it by voting for the executive procedure law of regions on September 8, 2007.
Approved
The legislation was approved at a time when Iraqis were in dire need for laws to improve their miserable daily lives that were made worse due to rising illiteracy, unemployment and lack of basic services.
The federal agenda promotes the disintegration of Iraq into smaller entities - a democratic practice that enjoys the backing of the constitution.
The new Iraqi constitution is designed to weaken the powers of the capital city, Baghdad, by empowering the governing councils of the federal regions.
The constitution's fifth chapter deals with all problems these regions may face in the future.
Federalism is a political philosophy in which a group of members are bound together with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units such as states or provinces. It is also the system in which the power to govern is shared between the national and state governments, creating what is often called a federation.
A federation may be optional such as the case in Switzerland, or compulsory, as in Russia.
However, the entities in a federation may enjoy a limited amount of authority, varying from one place to another.
Moreover, the unification of these entities in a federal state may be built on ethnic, religious or regional bases.
The orientation towards federalism in Iraq goes back to 1991 when the Kurds in Iraq were given political, economic and administrational rights that resemble a sovereign state, blessed and protected by the US.
The Kurdish federal project flamed the greed of other players in the Iraqi political process.
These players grew big under the unusual Iraqi state of affairs of today, where ethnic and sectarian affiliations surfaced successfully.
These circumstances have also enabled these players to be in a position to sign political treaties that resemble trade agreements.
As a result, Iraq's interests took a big step backwards.
The call for establishing federal regions in the south, middle or anywhere else in Iraq is made to look as though it will solve a big problem in a land where all its people share a common history, religion and ethnic affiliation.
So what is behind such calls?
This question will be answered through the coming events in Iraq.
However, in the absence of a true democratic tradition, federalism in Iraq may hold a disturbing separatist trend.
Democracy in its true essence is not present in Iraq. Hence, the consequences of a federal structure will be devastating.
Dr Mohammad Akef Jamal is an Iraqi writer based in Dubai.
