Right to self-determination: a case study of Iraqi Kurdistan Region

To this day, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region‘s (IKR) crisis over territorial integrity and statehood remains unsettled. The Iraqi Kurdistan right to self-determination has been a debatable issue in public international law as there are many features of that right expressed in different legal platforms. T...

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Main Author: Qader, Sanh Shareef
Format: Thesis
Language:eng
eng
eng
Published: 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/1/s902721_01.pdf
https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/2/s902721_02.pdf
https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/3/s902721%20references.docx
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spelling my-uum-etd.84502023-04-10T01:44:40Z Right to self-determination: a case study of Iraqi Kurdistan Region 2020 Qader, Sanh Shareef Mohd Anuar, Haslinda Ahmad, Rusniah Ghazali Shafie Graduate School of Government Ghazali Shafie Graduate School of Government JA Political science (General) To this day, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region‘s (IKR) crisis over territorial integrity and statehood remains unsettled. The Iraqi Kurdistan right to self-determination has been a debatable issue in public international law as there are many features of that right expressed in different legal platforms. The issue of legality of the Kurdistan people‘s right to self-determination and whether they have the right to independence will be clarified by bringing up the issue of decolonization. As such, there are insufficient existing studies to evaluate the political dynamics of Iraqi Kurdistan and elucidate which political arrangement is most desired by the Iraqi Kurds and is more likely to occur. Therefore, the general objective of this study is to explain how, why and to what extent is the Iraqi Federal government‘s stand regarding the status of the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum from various international perspectives. The qualitative approach was used in this research, where semi-structured interviews were conducted, involving fifteen people who were divided into three major groups, comprising the Iraq Federal Parliament, the Kurdistan Regional Parliament and the Academic group. The result of the discussions revealed that the referendum undertaken by the Iraqi Kurdistan region was illegal as it contradicts the constitutional provision that the state is a sovereign and united federal entity while the preamble of the Constitution can legalize the referendum when it is being violated by Iraqi federal government. The submissions also clarify that the regional states surrounding Iraq are not interested in the emergence of any Kurdish state in the area. Equally, the international community with the exception of Israel have not given any credence to the referendum. However, the situation may change in the future as nothing is permanent. The submissions from the interview have tremendously helped in the understanding of the subject matter as stakeholders narrate their position and also unfold issues of great significance to the research. They recommend that there is an urgent need to generate a new dynamism of democratic political culture in Iraq by activating debates in Parliament; amending the Constitution in order to have balanced power distribution among the branches of government; enacting election laws and new political parties; activate anti-corruption bodies and national reconciliation, and safeguard economic interest to ensure the sovereignty of the country. 2020 Thesis https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/ https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/1/s902721_01.pdf text eng public https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/2/s902721_02.pdf text eng public https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/3/s902721%20references.docx text eng public other doctoral Universiti Utara Malaysia
institution Universiti Utara Malaysia
collection UUM ETD
language eng
eng
eng
advisor Mohd Anuar, Haslinda
Ahmad, Rusniah
topic JA Political science (General)
spellingShingle JA Political science (General)
Qader, Sanh Shareef
Right to self-determination: a case study of Iraqi Kurdistan Region
description To this day, the Iraqi Kurdistan Region‘s (IKR) crisis over territorial integrity and statehood remains unsettled. The Iraqi Kurdistan right to self-determination has been a debatable issue in public international law as there are many features of that right expressed in different legal platforms. The issue of legality of the Kurdistan people‘s right to self-determination and whether they have the right to independence will be clarified by bringing up the issue of decolonization. As such, there are insufficient existing studies to evaluate the political dynamics of Iraqi Kurdistan and elucidate which political arrangement is most desired by the Iraqi Kurds and is more likely to occur. Therefore, the general objective of this study is to explain how, why and to what extent is the Iraqi Federal government‘s stand regarding the status of the Iraqi Kurdistan independence referendum from various international perspectives. The qualitative approach was used in this research, where semi-structured interviews were conducted, involving fifteen people who were divided into three major groups, comprising the Iraq Federal Parliament, the Kurdistan Regional Parliament and the Academic group. The result of the discussions revealed that the referendum undertaken by the Iraqi Kurdistan region was illegal as it contradicts the constitutional provision that the state is a sovereign and united federal entity while the preamble of the Constitution can legalize the referendum when it is being violated by Iraqi federal government. The submissions also clarify that the regional states surrounding Iraq are not interested in the emergence of any Kurdish state in the area. Equally, the international community with the exception of Israel have not given any credence to the referendum. However, the situation may change in the future as nothing is permanent. The submissions from the interview have tremendously helped in the understanding of the subject matter as stakeholders narrate their position and also unfold issues of great significance to the research. They recommend that there is an urgent need to generate a new dynamism of democratic political culture in Iraq by activating debates in Parliament; amending the Constitution in order to have balanced power distribution among the branches of government; enacting election laws and new political parties; activate anti-corruption bodies and national reconciliation, and safeguard economic interest to ensure the sovereignty of the country.
format Thesis
qualification_name other
qualification_level Doctorate
author Qader, Sanh Shareef
author_facet Qader, Sanh Shareef
author_sort Qader, Sanh Shareef
title Right to self-determination: a case study of Iraqi Kurdistan Region
title_short Right to self-determination: a case study of Iraqi Kurdistan Region
title_full Right to self-determination: a case study of Iraqi Kurdistan Region
title_fullStr Right to self-determination: a case study of Iraqi Kurdistan Region
title_full_unstemmed Right to self-determination: a case study of Iraqi Kurdistan Region
title_sort right to self-determination: a case study of iraqi kurdistan region
granting_institution Universiti Utara Malaysia
granting_department Ghazali Shafie Graduate School of Government
publishDate 2020
url https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/1/s902721_01.pdf
https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/2/s902721_02.pdf
https://etd.uum.edu.my/8450/3/s902721%20references.docx
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