1930 Iraqi parliamentary election

20 October 1930
All 88 seats in the Chamber of Deputies 45 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party   Leader Nuri al-Said Yasin al-Hashimi Party Covenant Party People's Party Leader since 23 March 1930 20 November 1925 Leader's seat Baghdad Baghdad Last election 66 seats, 75% 22 seats, 25% Seats won 70 13 Seat change 4 9 Percentage 79.5% 15.9% Swing 4.5% 9.09%
PM before election Nuri al-Said Covenant Party Subsequent PM Nuri al-Said Covenant Party

Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 20 October 1930 to elect the members of the Chamber of Deputies. For every twenty thousand male citizens, one Member of Parliament was elected to the Chamber of Deputies (Majlis an-Nuwwab), the dominant chamber of Parliament over the Senate. It was the third election since the establishment of the parliament.

Nuri al-Said, who was appointed as Prime Minister on 23 March 1930, gathered his supporters to win a total of 70 seats, surpassing the seats needed for a majority by 25 and increasing the number of seats won in the 1928 election by 4. The opposition's People's Party had a large drop, losing 9 seats which resulted in them being a dominated minority in the council. Also, five seats were won by Independent politicians.

Election process

According to the Electing Law and the Basic Law of 1925, all Iraqi male citizens over the age of 18 on the date of the election were permitted to vote. In the parliamentary elections, voting took place in all parliamentary constituencies, where the preliminary electors elected secondary electors, who in turn elected members of the parliament (MPs) to seats in the Chamber of Deputies. Each parliamentary constituency of Iraq elected one MP to the Council of Representatives using the Indirect election system. If one party obtained the majority of seats, that party was entitled to form the Government.

Background

Abdul-Muhsin Al-Saadoun, leader of the Progress Party

During Abdul-Muhsin Al-Saadoun's second term as a Prime Minister, after the 1925 election, he founded the Progress Party to support the government and get an overall majority.^[1] King Faisal I wanted to remove Al-Saadoun from his office after the latter's tries to reduce the king's authorities,^[2] in which he succeeded by getting the majority of the council to vote for a different speaker than the one that was nominated by the government, resulting in his resignation.^[3] He was also concerned that he had too many allies in the British government and had the trust of the High Commissioner, so he made his two loyal men, Nuri al-Said and Jafar al-Askari, join his party and sabotage it.^[4]

After the resignation of Naji al-Suwaydi's ministry, in 1930, Faisal I appointed Nuri al-Said as the Prime Minister who postponed the meetings of the Progress Party dominated council so he could insure the approval of the Anglo-Iraqi Treaty (1930) by the council before dissolving it on 1 July, after signing the treaty, arguing that treaty will put Iraq in a new political situation, so it would be wise to seek the people's opinion about the treaty.^[5] The MPs objected and filed a complaint to the king, stating that the dissolution of the council violates the law and requesting the appointment of a new neutral ministry.^[6]

The opposition's National Party held a meeting, where their leader, Jaafar Abu Al-Timman, decided to boycott the election and called upon the people to boycott it as well but not many agreed with this decision and most of the party's followers attended the polling stations because the opposition's other party, People's Party, participated in it.^[7][8]

Campaign

Governmental interferences

Before the election, the government elected British inspection bodies to monitor the election, which was widely refused by the opposition, stating that the government doesn't fight for a majority, they just get an artificial one.^[13] At the same time, the Ministry of Interior summoned the governors that the government doubted their intentions to Baghdad and assigned undersecretaries during the election to, allegedly, hold a meeting that discusses the candidature of the representatives, to make sure that the governors who support the outgoing Minister of Finance who resigned, Ali Jawdat al-Aiyubi, don't switch to the opposition's side.^[14] The government also coordinated with the British via the consultant of the Ministry of Interior who requested from the inspection bodies across the governorates to supply them with lists of the candidates and the possibility of them voting in favor of the treaty, against it, and the dubitable ones.^[11]

Due to the treaty not mentioning the Kurds' privileges, the citizens in Sulaymaniyah boycotted the election and soon after that, on 6 September, more than fifty people began a riot where they assaulted the police and the army, resulting in the death of a soldier and 13 rioters, the injury of ten police officers and two soldiers, and the detention of more than a hundred rioters.^[15] The inspection bodies also forced some of the people that boycotted the election in Shawkah into participating in the election by faking a funeral in a mosque, which they went to.^[7]

Upon the resignation of Ali Jawdat al-Aiyubi from the Ministry of Finance, Nuri al-Said nominated the Minister of Interior, Jamil al-Midfai, for the ministry so the former could take the Ministry of Interior, especially after al-Midfai objected on some of the government's candidates and suggested other people that al-Said didn't see fit, along with the British government's doubts surrounding him and the expectation of him helping his friend, Yasin al-Hashimi, to obtain the majority. Al-Said eventually held the Ministry of Interior on 10 October.^[16] He also requested from his candidates to pledge and swear on voting in favor of the treaty.^[17][18]

Al-Said tried to divide the National Party which boycotted the election by winning Bahjat Zeenal to his side, taking advantage of their friendship, and Mohammed Mahdi Al-Baseer who was given a scholarship to Cairo^[19] One of the party's leading members, Abdul-Ghafour Al-Badri, was threatened by a retired military officer that he would eliminate him which made him resign from the party.^[20]

The People's Party filed a number of complaints to the king of the illegitimacy of the election, published the names of the people who boycotted the election in the newspapers, called for a working strike, and organized demonstrations, which were suppressed by the government.^[21]

Results

Notes and references

References

• Faraj, Lutfi Jaafar. (1988). عبد المحسن السعدون: دوره في تاريخ العراق السياسي المعاصر. Baghdad: Al-Yaqatha Al-Arabiya Press. INLA 185609 (in Arabic)
• Mohammed, Alaa Jasim. (1990). الملك فيصل الاول: حياته ودوره السياسي في الثورة العربية وسورية والعراق 1888–1933. Baghdad: Al-Yaqatha Al-Arabiya Press. INLA 227541 (in Arabic)
• Al-Hassani, Abdul-Razzaq. (1982). تاريخ الوزارات العراقية في العهد الملكي – الجزء الثاني. Baghdad: Al-Yaqatha Al-Arabiya Press. INLA 122750 (in Arabic)
• Al-Hassani, Abdul-Razzaq. (1982). تاريخ الوزارات العراقية في العهد الملكي – الجزء الثالث. Baghdad: Al-Yaqatha Al-Arabiya Press. INLA 122754 (in Arabic)
• Al-Naseeri, Abdul-Razzaq. (1987). نوري السعيد ودوره في السياسة العراقية حتى عام 1932. Baghdad: Times Company. INLA 141614 (in Arabic)
• Aladhami, M. M. Hashim. Political Aspects of the Iraqi Parliament and Election Processes 1920–1932. A thesis submitted for the degree of PhD. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 1978
• Al-Omari, Khairi. (1955). شخصيات عراقية – الجزء الأول. Baghdad: Al-Ma'arifa Press. INLA 64822 (in Arabic)
• Kubba, M. Mahdi. (1965). مذكراتي في صميم الاحداث 1918–1958. Beirut: Al-Talee'a Press. INLA 545424 (in Arabic)
• Al-Omar, Farouq Salih. (1978). الاحزاب السياسية في العراق 1921–1932. Baghdad: Al-Irshad Press. INLA 347685 (in Arabic)
• Al-Darraji, Abdul-Razzaq. (1978). جعفر ابو التمن ودوره في الحركة الوطنية في العراق 1908–1945. Baghdad: Al-Hurriya Press. INLA 233295 (in Arabic)