BAGHDAD — There is something ironic about the Iraqi partisan arena, which has been governed since 2004 by Order 97, issued that year by the US civil administrator of Iraq, Paul Bremer. The order organized the parties’ work and directed preparation for the elections that resulted in the formation of the Interim National Assembly in 2005.

Iraqi parties that exploited the provisions of the order to gain temporary legitimacy until a constitution was adopted and a parties law drafted discovered that the ensuing political environment was ideal for them to conduct their political activities freely. No clear commitments or responsibilities to divulge their sources of funding and hold internal elections were enforced, and they put any laws in that regard on the political back burner for years.

Article 39 of the Iraqi Constitution provides for “the freedom to establish political parties and organizations or become a member therein,” with such activities to be “governed by an applicable law,” which has not seen the light of day 10 years after the adoption of the constitution and the expiration of Bremer’s provisional orders.

Despite years of Iraqi political and parliamentary factions affirming their intent to adopt a law governing the activities of political parties, establishing clear mechanisms for their formation and appointing a body to oversee their commitment thereto, they have consistently disagreed on one item of the law or another, sabotaging it and postponing its adoption year after year.