Iraqi Communist Party
Encyclopedia
Since its foundation in 1934, the Iraqi Communist Party (in ) has dominated the left in Iraqi politics
. It played a fundamental role in shaping the political history of Iraq
between its foundation and the 1970s. The Party was involved in many of the most important national uprisings and demonstrations of the 1940s and 1950s. It suffered heavily under the repressive regimes of the Ba'ath party and Saddam Hussein
, but remained an important element of the Iraqi opposition, and was a vocal opponent of the United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq after the Kuwait War
of 1991. It opposed the United States invasion of Iraq
in 2003 but since then has participated in the new political institutions. It received little support in the Iraqi general elections of 2005.
, "Comrade Fahd"). Several circles were also growing in Baghdad, led by such notables as Asim Flayyeh, Mahdi Hashim, and Zaki Khairi. These young men had first met during the student demonstrations of 1927 and 1928. These groups were brought together through the boycott of the British-owned Baghdad Electric Light Company, lasting from December 5, 1933 until January 2, 1934. Finally, on March 8, 1935, Jamiyyat Dudd Al-Istimar (“The Association Against Imperialism”) was founded. Three days later a manifesto was issued, calling for the unification of all workers and peasants and demanding cancellation of debts, redistribution of lands, and extensions of worker’s rights, including an eight-hour day. The organization, with its founders acting as regional leaders, set about publishing Iraq’s first underground paper, Kifah Al-Shab (“The Struggle of the People”), and began attacking prime minister Yasin al-Hashimi
, resulting in swift police crackdown and the arrests of almost all of the major leaders. By December 1935, the paper ceased to exist, having reached a circulation of about 500.
After the coup of October 29, 1936, the Iraqi Communist leaders and organizers who had eluded imprisonment helped to lead the wave of peaceful demonstrations occurring across the country, such as Ghali Zuwayyid in Basra. The party found supporters on the “Committee for National and Progressive Reform” (which organized popular support in Baghdad) and even secured two supporters in the newly elected parliament. Bakr Sidqi
, the leader of the coup and now the new power in the government, quickly issued attacks on the party, and was met with labor strikes across the nation. Sidqi responded with further crackdowns, and many of the Communist reformers fled the cause. Despite the assassination of Sidqi in 1937, the damage had been done, leaving the leadership of the party in the hands of Zaki Zkhairi, who sought new support for the party among the lower ranks of the military throughout the late 1930s.
. The party eventually ceded to supporting the Allies in May 1942, which essentially aligned them with the monarchy and the oppressive landowners for the time being.
In 1941 Yusuf Salman Yusuf
became general secretary of the party, and set about revamping the organization and expanding membership among the working classes. He successfully laid the basis for the mass party of later years, and under his leadership the party became a considerable force among the Iraqi working class and a major focus for protest against British involvement in Iraqi affairs. In 1942 some of his decisions fell under criticism, and eventually split the party into several factions, each with their own newspaper. In 1944 the party launched a clandestine campaign to organize the nation’s industrial workers, spearheaded by lower middle class intellectuals. This led to a party conference in March 1944 and eventually to the party’s first congress in 1945, at which the dissidents of 1942 were reinstated into the party ranks.
Anti-British sentiment came back into the forefront of party concerns in April 1945, as the cost of living in the country grew higher and higher. The party attacked the government with criticisms and outright condemnations after the killing of protestors in June and July 1946, and as a result Comrade Fahd was arrested and sentenced to death, later reduced to life in prison. Between 1944 and 1946, major percentages (30-60%) of oil and railway workers, along with port workers in Basra, were unionized, all with ICP members as union leaders. As a result, massive strikes were organized between 1945 and 1947, demanding wage increases and the legalization of union organizations. The government initially granted wage increases, but soon dismantled the unions and arrested their leaders, contributing to Al-Wathbah
, a period of urban unrest in Baghdad, beginning in January 1948. Another major issue for the party at this time was the Palestinian Question. Despite earlier support of Palestinian rights of self-determination, in July 1948 the party fell in line with Moscow's position of supporting a Zionist state. The party lost many supporters among the public because of this, and many members also resigned and left the party ranks in anger.
While this period brought many organizational victories for the party, it also brought devastating response from the government, due to the party's role in the al-Wathbah uprisings. Fahd and two comrades were publicly hanged in 1949, after being accused of organizing agitation from prison. The party was nearly decimated, and a period of reconstruction was to follow.
support, and for a period from 1949-1950 the party was actually led from Kurdistan instead of Baghdad. Nearly the entirety of the old, largely Baghdadi leadership had been imprisoned, creating a void the Kurdish members quickly filled. This period also saw a drastic drop in Jewish membership, undoubtedly connected to the massive exodus of approximately 120,000 Jews from Iraq at this time.
Between 1952 and 1954 a series of uprisings led to the establishment of martial law, the outlawing of all political parties, cultural circles, unions, and independent media, and the arrests of their leaders. This policy was instituted during one of Nuri as-Said
’s many periods of control over the government. The ICP, which had always been an illegal organization, adopted a new national charter in 1953 which differed from the 1944 charter in that it accepted possible secession of the Kurdish people. At this time, according to one source, the party numbered about 500. Riots over prison conditions broke out in June and September 1953, first in Baghdad and then in Kut
, resulting in the deaths of many Communist political prisoners at the hands of the police. This caused a national outcry and won many sympathizers to the side of the Communist cause.
At the second party Congress in 1956, the party officially adopted a pan-Arabist stance. This was inspired not only by the arms agreement between Egypt
and the USSR in July 1955, but also by Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal
the following year, resulting in an Anglo-French-Israeli attack on Egypt. This pro-Nasserist stance would eventually become a point of conflict after the 1958 revolution. In 1958, the party supported the revolution and the new government of Abd al-Karim Qasim, who relied to a considerable degree on its support.
(also known as Salam 'Adil), suggested launching a coup, but the more conservative elements opposed this. In fact the party would continue to support Qasim, more or less critically, up until his overthrow in February 1963
. In the last two years of his rule, Qasim greatly weakened the party by suppressing largely or completely most of its flanking organisations, including the Democratic Youth Federation and workers' and students' unions. By the time of the 1963 coup the increasing unpopularity of Qasim, with whom the Communists were still linked in the public mind, coupled with the repressive measures he had adopted against them, had contributed to reducing the party's membership to under 10,000.
In the mid 1960s the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 15000 (0.47% of the working age population of the country).
In 1967 Aziz al-Hajj split from the ICP, establishing the Iraqi Communist Party - Central Command, and initiated an armed struggle, which the ICP at the time opposed.
In 1973 ICP secretary Aziz Muhammad signed a National Action Pact with President Hasan al-Bakr, forming a National Progressive Front
together with the Ba'ath Party. The ICP was permitted to operate legally, publish and revive its flanking organisations. However, this was coupled with elements of repression, and by the autumn of 1974 the party tried to increase its security through a more clandestine mode of operation. In 1978 Saddam Hussein
unleashed a renewed campaign of repression against the party, including the execution of large numbers of party members. In 1979 the party officially broke with the regime.
In 1993 the Kurd
ish branch of the party was transformed into a semi-autonomous party, the Kurdistan Communist Party
.
, accepted a position on the Interim Iraq Governing Council. The party was the principal component of the People's Union (Iraq)
list for the general election on January 30, 2005 (see Iraqi legislative election, January 2005
) but filed separate lists in some governorate council elections (see for instance Ninawa governorate council election, 2005
). For the Iraqi legislative election, December 2005
, the party has joined the Iraqi National List
of Iyad Allawi
, along with other socialist, secular, moderate Sunni and moderate Shiite parties.
The youth wing of the party is the Iraqi Democratic Youth Federation
.
The motto of the party is a free homeland and a happy people .
The following is a list of persons who served as Secretary or First Secretary of the Iraqi Communist Party, the party's primary leadership position. Given the occasional suppression of the party and resultant lapses in its activity, the position was at times vacant.
Politics of Iraq
The politics of Iraq takes place in a framework of a federal parliamentary representative democratic republic. It is a multi-party system whereby the executive power is exercised by the Prime Minister of the Council of Ministers as the head of government, as well as the President of Iraq, and...
. It played a fundamental role in shaping the political history of Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
between its foundation and the 1970s. The Party was involved in many of the most important national uprisings and demonstrations of the 1940s and 1950s. It suffered heavily under the repressive regimes of the Ba'ath party and Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
, but remained an important element of the Iraqi opposition, and was a vocal opponent of the United Nations sanctions imposed on Iraq after the Kuwait War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
of 1991. It opposed the United States invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
in 2003 but since then has participated in the new political institutions. It received little support in the Iraqi general elections of 2005.
Roots of the Party: 1924-1929
The history of Marxist ideology and organization in Iraq can be traced to a single individual, Husain Al-Rahhal, a student at the Baghdad School of Law, who in 1924 formed what is now seen as the first “Marxist” study circle in Iraq. This group of young intellectuals initially began meeting in Baghdad’s Haidarkhanah Mosque (a location also famous as a meeting place for revolutionaries in 1920) and discussing “new ideas” of the day. They eventually formed a small newspaper, Al-Sahifah (“The Journal”), which detailed a decidedly Marxist ideology. Membership in this circle included such influential Iraqis as Mustafa Ali, Minister of Justice under Abd al-Karim Qasim, and Mahmoud Ahmad Al-Sayyid, considered Iraq’s first novelist. Al-Rahhal, an accomplished polyglot, was able to translate articles from various European Communist and Marxist newspapers, thus introducing many new ideals into Iraqi intellectual society. While the paper lacked a definite agenda or program, the majority of the writing was centered on the need to break down the strong influence of tradition in Iraqi society. This included equal rights for women and the abolition of feudal practices. After six issues and several government crackdowns, the paper published its final issue in 1927 and was permanently shut down. From this point on Al-Rahhal exerted his influence only from the background, most notably through the youth organization Nadi Al-Tadamun (“The Solidarity Club”). Through this organization he helped to inspire Iraq’s first student demonstrations on January 30, 1927 (over the firing of certain controversial teachers) and February 8, 1928 (over the visit of prominent British Zionist Alfred Mond to Iraq).The 1930s
In 1929, a sharp decline in international commodity prices caused a more than 40 percent drop in the value of Iraqi exports. This led to a national economic depression and massive wage reductions for many of Iraq’s workers. It was at this time that Communist circles began growing among young men in Basra (led by Ghali Zuwayyid) and Nasiriyyah (led by Yusuf Salman YusufYusuf Salman Yusuf
Fahd , the nom de guerre of Yusuf Salman Yusuf , an ethnic Assyrian and Christian was one of the first Iraqi communist activists and was first secretary of the Iraqi Communist Party from 1941 until his death on the gallows in 1949. He is generally credited with a vital role in the party’s rapid...
, "Comrade Fahd"). Several circles were also growing in Baghdad, led by such notables as Asim Flayyeh, Mahdi Hashim, and Zaki Khairi. These young men had first met during the student demonstrations of 1927 and 1928. These groups were brought together through the boycott of the British-owned Baghdad Electric Light Company, lasting from December 5, 1933 until January 2, 1934. Finally, on March 8, 1935, Jamiyyat Dudd Al-Istimar (“The Association Against Imperialism”) was founded. Three days later a manifesto was issued, calling for the unification of all workers and peasants and demanding cancellation of debts, redistribution of lands, and extensions of worker’s rights, including an eight-hour day. The organization, with its founders acting as regional leaders, set about publishing Iraq’s first underground paper, Kifah Al-Shab (“The Struggle of the People”), and began attacking prime minister Yasin al-Hashimi
Yasin al-Hashimi
Yasin al-Hashimi was an Iraqi politician who served twice as that country's prime minister. Like many of Iraq's early leaders, Hashimi, who was born Yasin Hilmi Salman, served as an officer during Ottoman control of the country...
, resulting in swift police crackdown and the arrests of almost all of the major leaders. By December 1935, the paper ceased to exist, having reached a circulation of about 500.
After the coup of October 29, 1936, the Iraqi Communist leaders and organizers who had eluded imprisonment helped to lead the wave of peaceful demonstrations occurring across the country, such as Ghali Zuwayyid in Basra. The party found supporters on the “Committee for National and Progressive Reform” (which organized popular support in Baghdad) and even secured two supporters in the newly elected parliament. Bakr Sidqi
Bakr Sidqi
Bakr Sidqi , an Iraqi nationalist and general of Kurdish origin, but not a Kurdish nationalist, was born 1890 in Kirkuk and assassinated on August 12, 1937, at Mosul.-Biography:...
, the leader of the coup and now the new power in the government, quickly issued attacks on the party, and was met with labor strikes across the nation. Sidqi responded with further crackdowns, and many of the Communist reformers fled the cause. Despite the assassination of Sidqi in 1937, the damage had been done, leaving the leadership of the party in the hands of Zaki Zkhairi, who sought new support for the party among the lower ranks of the military throughout the late 1930s.
The 1940s
World War II posed a difficult predicament for the ICP, who looked to the Soviet Union for guidance but also vehemently opposed supporting the British Imperialist occupiers, whose occupation of Iraq in 1941 was partially premised on keeping supply lines open to the USSR. After Hitler’s invasion of the USSR in 1941, the ICP hesitated to officially lend their support to either side. While their ideological allies were the Soviet Union, the Soviets were allied with the British Imperialists, and the Germans also had significant influence in Iraq during the time of the Ottoman EmpireOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. The party eventually ceded to supporting the Allies in May 1942, which essentially aligned them with the monarchy and the oppressive landowners for the time being.
In 1941 Yusuf Salman Yusuf
Yusuf Salman Yusuf
Fahd , the nom de guerre of Yusuf Salman Yusuf , an ethnic Assyrian and Christian was one of the first Iraqi communist activists and was first secretary of the Iraqi Communist Party from 1941 until his death on the gallows in 1949. He is generally credited with a vital role in the party’s rapid...
became general secretary of the party, and set about revamping the organization and expanding membership among the working classes. He successfully laid the basis for the mass party of later years, and under his leadership the party became a considerable force among the Iraqi working class and a major focus for protest against British involvement in Iraqi affairs. In 1942 some of his decisions fell under criticism, and eventually split the party into several factions, each with their own newspaper. In 1944 the party launched a clandestine campaign to organize the nation’s industrial workers, spearheaded by lower middle class intellectuals. This led to a party conference in March 1944 and eventually to the party’s first congress in 1945, at which the dissidents of 1942 were reinstated into the party ranks.
Anti-British sentiment came back into the forefront of party concerns in April 1945, as the cost of living in the country grew higher and higher. The party attacked the government with criticisms and outright condemnations after the killing of protestors in June and July 1946, and as a result Comrade Fahd was arrested and sentenced to death, later reduced to life in prison. Between 1944 and 1946, major percentages (30-60%) of oil and railway workers, along with port workers in Basra, were unionized, all with ICP members as union leaders. As a result, massive strikes were organized between 1945 and 1947, demanding wage increases and the legalization of union organizations. The government initially granted wage increases, but soon dismantled the unions and arrested their leaders, contributing to Al-Wathbah
Al-Wathbah
Al-Wathbah uprising or simply Al-Wathbah , which means The Leap in Arabic, was the term that came to be used for the urban unrest in Baghdad in January 1948. The protests were sparked by the monarchy’s plans to renew the 1930 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty that effectively made Iraq a British protectorate...
, a period of urban unrest in Baghdad, beginning in January 1948. Another major issue for the party at this time was the Palestinian Question. Despite earlier support of Palestinian rights of self-determination, in July 1948 the party fell in line with Moscow's position of supporting a Zionist state. The party lost many supporters among the public because of this, and many members also resigned and left the party ranks in anger.
While this period brought many organizational victories for the party, it also brought devastating response from the government, due to the party's role in the al-Wathbah uprisings. Fahd and two comrades were publicly hanged in 1949, after being accused of organizing agitation from prison. The party was nearly decimated, and a period of reconstruction was to follow.
1950-1958
After the devastations of the late 40s, the composition of the party went through some serious changes. The severely weakened organization was carried through the early 50s by growing KurdishKurdish people
The Kurdish people, or Kurds , are an Iranian people native to the Middle East, mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey...
support, and for a period from 1949-1950 the party was actually led from Kurdistan instead of Baghdad. Nearly the entirety of the old, largely Baghdadi leadership had been imprisoned, creating a void the Kurdish members quickly filled. This period also saw a drastic drop in Jewish membership, undoubtedly connected to the massive exodus of approximately 120,000 Jews from Iraq at this time.
Between 1952 and 1954 a series of uprisings led to the establishment of martial law, the outlawing of all political parties, cultural circles, unions, and independent media, and the arrests of their leaders. This policy was instituted during one of Nuri as-Said
Nuri as-Said
Nuri Pasha al-Said was an Iraqi politician during the British Mandate and during the Kingdom of Iraq. He served in various key cabinet positions, and served seven terms as Prime Minister of Iraq....
’s many periods of control over the government. The ICP, which had always been an illegal organization, adopted a new national charter in 1953 which differed from the 1944 charter in that it accepted possible secession of the Kurdish people. At this time, according to one source, the party numbered about 500. Riots over prison conditions broke out in June and September 1953, first in Baghdad and then in Kut
Kut
Al-Kūt is a city in eastern Iraq, on the left bank of the Tigris River, about 160 kilometres south east of Baghdad. the estimated population is about 374,000 people...
, resulting in the deaths of many Communist political prisoners at the hands of the police. This caused a national outcry and won many sympathizers to the side of the Communist cause.
At the second party Congress in 1956, the party officially adopted a pan-Arabist stance. This was inspired not only by the arms agreement between Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
and the USSR in July 1955, but also by Egypt's nationalization of the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...
the following year, resulting in an Anglo-French-Israeli attack on Egypt. This pro-Nasserist stance would eventually become a point of conflict after the 1958 revolution. In 1958, the party supported the revolution and the new government of Abd al-Karim Qasim, who relied to a considerable degree on its support.
The party under Qasim, 1958-1963
The relationship between the party and Qasim was not an easy one. By the summer of 1959 the party had perhaps between 20,000 and 25,000 members. This, added to their ability to mobilise the masses and their penetration of the workforces in strategic industries, made Qasim fear the party's growing power. In July 1959, he ordered a minor crackdown on the party. It was unsure how to react. Some elements, around first secretary Husain al-RadiHusain al-Radi
Husain Ar-Radi , also known as Hashiim, Ammar, and Salam Adil, was an Iraqi communist politician as well as a poet and painter...
(also known as Salam 'Adil), suggested launching a coup, but the more conservative elements opposed this. In fact the party would continue to support Qasim, more or less critically, up until his overthrow in February 1963
February 1963 Iraqi coup d'état
The February 1963 Iraqi coup d'état was a February 8, 1963 armed military coup by the Ba'ath Party's Iraqi wing which overthrew the regime of the Prime Minister of Iraq, Brigadier General Abd al-Karim Qasim. General Ahmed Hasan al-Bakr became the new Prime Minister and Colonel Abdul Salam Arif...
. In the last two years of his rule, Qasim greatly weakened the party by suppressing largely or completely most of its flanking organisations, including the Democratic Youth Federation and workers' and students' unions. By the time of the 1963 coup the increasing unpopularity of Qasim, with whom the Communists were still linked in the public mind, coupled with the repressive measures he had adopted against them, had contributed to reducing the party's membership to under 10,000.
The party under Baathist rule
The Ba'athist coup of 8 February 1963 was accompanied by street fighting as Communist activists and supporters resisted the coup attempt. Fighting in Baghdad continued for three days, concentrated in the party's strongholds in the poorer, mainly Shia, districts. When the Baath consolidated its power the ICP suffered an unprecedented campaign of mass physical liquidation. Leading figures and cadres of the Party were tortured to death, including Husain al-Radi. The total number of communists killed is unknown, but was certainly in the thousands.In the mid 1960s the U.S. State Department estimated the party membership to be approximately 15000 (0.47% of the working age population of the country).
In 1967 Aziz al-Hajj split from the ICP, establishing the Iraqi Communist Party - Central Command, and initiated an armed struggle, which the ICP at the time opposed.
In 1973 ICP secretary Aziz Muhammad signed a National Action Pact with President Hasan al-Bakr, forming a National Progressive Front
National Progressive Front (Iraq)
The National Progressive Front was an Iraqi Popular Front announced on July 16, 1973 and constituted in 1974, ostensibly formed within the framework of a "joint action programme" to establish a coalition between the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party, the Iraqi Communist Party, the Kurdistan...
together with the Ba'ath Party. The ICP was permitted to operate legally, publish and revive its flanking organisations. However, this was coupled with elements of repression, and by the autumn of 1974 the party tried to increase its security through a more clandestine mode of operation. In 1978 Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
unleashed a renewed campaign of repression against the party, including the execution of large numbers of party members. In 1979 the party officially broke with the regime.
In 1993 the Kurd
Kürd
Kürd or Kyurd or Kyurt may refer to:*Kürd Eldarbəyli, Azerbaijan*Kürd Mahrızlı, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Goychay, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Jalilabad, Azerbaijan*Kürd, Qabala, Azerbaijan*Qurdbayram, Azerbaijan...
ish branch of the party was transformed into a semi-autonomous party, the Kurdistan Communist Party
Kurdistan Communist Party
The Kurdistan Communist Party/Iraq is a Kurdish political party, formed in 1993 when the Iraqi Communist Party branch in the Kurdish areas was formed into a separate party. The party is led by Kamal Shakir....
.
After the occupation of Iraq
The Iraqi Communist Party opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 but decided to work with the new political institutions established after the occupation. Its secretary, Hamid Majid MousaHamid Majid Mousa
Hamid Majid Mousa is the Secretary General of the Iraqi Communist Party. He was a member of the Interim Iraq Governing Council created following the United States's 2003 invasion of Iraq, and currently holds a seat on the National Assembly under Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National List. An economist and...
, accepted a position on the Interim Iraq Governing Council. The party was the principal component of the People's Union (Iraq)
People's Union (Iraq)
The People's Union was the main communist party list in the January 2005 Iraqi legislative election. It is made up of the Iraqi Communist Party and independent candidate Hikmat Dawud Hakim. Before the election, it attempted to form a wider coalition among secularist groups, but this effort failed...
list for the general election on January 30, 2005 (see Iraqi legislative election, January 2005
Iraqi legislative election, January 2005
Elections for the National Assembly of Iraq were held on January 30, 2005 in Iraq. The 275-member National Assembly was a parliament created under the Transitional Law during the Occupation of Iraq...
) but filed separate lists in some governorate council elections (see for instance Ninawa governorate council election, 2005
Ninawa governorate council election, 2005
The Governorate Council election in the Ninawa governorate of Iraq was held on January 30, 2005, simultaneously with the national legislative election. The province is largely a mix of Sunnis and Kurds, but there is also a significant Shi'ite presence...
). For the Iraqi legislative election, December 2005
Iraqi legislative election, December 2005
Following the ratification of the Constitution of Iraq on 15 October 2005, a general election was held on 15 December to elect a permanent 275-member Iraqi Council of Representatives....
, the party has joined the Iraqi National List
Iraqi National List
The Iraqi National List is a coalition of Iraqi political parties who ran in the December 2005 Iraqi elections and got 8.0% of the vote and 25 out of 275 seats...
of Iyad Allawi
Iyad Allawi
Ayad Allawi is an Iraqi politician, and was the interim Prime Minister of Iraq prior to Iraq's 2005 legislative elections. A prominent Iraqi political activist who lived in exile for almost 30 years, the politically secular Shia Muslim became a member of the Iraq Interim Governing Council, which...
, along with other socialist, secular, moderate Sunni and moderate Shiite parties.
Party institution, symbols and leadership
The party newspaper is Tariq ash-Shaab (Path of the People). It also publishes the magazine Al-Thakafa Al-Jedida (The New Culture ).The youth wing of the party is the Iraqi Democratic Youth Federation
Iraqi Democratic Youth Federation
Iraqi Democratic Youth Federation is the youth wing of the Iraqi Communist Party....
.
The motto of the party is a free homeland and a happy people .
The following is a list of persons who served as Secretary or First Secretary of the Iraqi Communist Party, the party's primary leadership position. Given the occasional suppression of the party and resultant lapses in its activity, the position was at times vacant.
| No. | Name | Assumed Position | Left Position | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amin Flayyeh | May 1935 | December 1935 | |
| 2 | Abdullah Mas'ud | 1941 | October 1941 | |
| 3 | Yusuf Salman Yusuf Yusuf Salman Yusuf Fahd , the nom de guerre of Yusuf Salman Yusuf , an ethnic Assyrian and Christian was one of the first Iraqi communist activists and was first secretary of the Iraqi Communist Party from 1941 until his death on the gallows in 1949. He is generally credited with a vital role in the party’s rapid... (Comrade Fahd) | October 1941 | February 1949 | |
| 4 | Baha' al-Din Nuri | September 1949 (effectively, officially appointed only in August 1951) | April 1953 | |
| 5 | Abd al-Karim Ahmad al-Daud | April 1953 | June 1954 | |
| 6 | Hamid Uthman | June 1954 | June 1955 | |
| 7 | Husain al-Radi Husain al-Radi Husain Ar-Radi , also known as Hashiim, Ammar, and Salam Adil, was an Iraqi communist politician as well as a poet and painter... (Salam 'Adil) | June 1955 | February 1963 | |
| 7 | Aziz Muhammad | August 1964 | 1993 | |
| 8 | Hamid Majid Mousa Hamid Majid Mousa Hamid Majid Mousa is the Secretary General of the Iraqi Communist Party. He was a member of the Interim Iraq Governing Council created following the United States's 2003 invasion of Iraq, and currently holds a seat on the National Assembly under Iyad Allawi's Iraqi National List. An economist and... | 1993 | current |
Further reading
- Batatu, HannaHanna BatatuHanna Batatu was a Palestinian American Marxist historian specialising in the history of Iraq and the modern Arab east. His work on Iraq is widely considered the pre-eminent study of modern Iraqi history.Born in Jerusalem in 1926, Hanna Batatu emigrated to the United States in 1948, the year of...
. The Old Social Classes and New Revolutionary Movements of Iraq. London. al-Saqi BooksSaqi BooksSaqi Books is an independent UK publisher co-founded in 1984 by author and feminist Mai Ghoussoub to "print quality academic and general interest books on the Middle East". It now claims to be "the UK's largest publisher of Middle Eastern and Arabic titles"...
. 1978, republished, 2004. ISBN 0-86356-520-4 - Ismael, Tareq. The Rise and Fall of the Communist Party of Iraq. Cambridge University Press (2008).
- Salucci, Ilario. A People's History of Iraq: The Iraqi Communist Party, Workers' Movements and the Left 1923-2004. Haymarket Books (2005) ISBN 1-931859-14-0
- Franzén, Johan. Red Star Over Iraq: Iraqi Communism Before Saddam. Columbia University Press, 2011. ISBN 0-231702-30-2 (Reviewed in The Montreal Review)
See also
- Yusuf Salman YusufYusuf Salman YusufFahd , the nom de guerre of Yusuf Salman Yusuf , an ethnic Assyrian and Christian was one of the first Iraqi communist activists and was first secretary of the Iraqi Communist Party from 1941 until his death on the gallows in 1949. He is generally credited with a vital role in the party’s rapid...
- Rayat ash-ShaghilahRayat ash-ShaghilahRayat ash-Shaghilah was a communist organization in Iraq, named after its publication with the same name. Rayat ash-Shaghilah was founded in 1953 by a group that had been expelled from the Iraqi Communist Party. Its main spokesperson was Jamal al-Haidari...
- Co-ordinating Committee of Communist Parties in BritainCo-ordinating Committee of Communist Parties in BritainThe Coordinating Committee of Communist Parties in Britain is a bureau within the CPB which meets with overseas communist parties that have memberships in Britain.These include:*the Communist Party of India ,*the Communist Party of Bangladesh,...
External links
- ICP site
- English ICP site
- Tariq ash-Shaab, ICP's official newspaper
- Iraqi Letter (English)