Struggle for Political Space in post-War Iraq: Contending Relations between ex-Exile Ruling Parties and Later-formed Parties

Abstract

After the collapse of the Ba'thist authoritarian regime by the U.S invasion of Iraq, the Islamic parties of Iraq, which had been under exile, came into power in Iraq through two elections. This democratically elected government, however, has to face serious challenges mainly from these that have strong foundations within local societies. These forces were, with no experience of exile, delayed in participating to the political process after the regime change, which consequently failed to get into power. This paper aims to clarifying the patterns of power struggles between the regime and later-formed parties, mainly focusing on the Sadr Movement, by analyzing the policies adopted by the regime for achieving its stability as well as the strategies utilized by the later-formed parties.