I n the convoluted post-First World War era, few men inspired Iraqi elites as much as Kamil Al Chadirchi (sometimes spelt Chaderchi), the founder of the Hizb Al Watanih Al Dimuqratih (National Democratic Party, or NDP). While neither Al Chadirchi nor the NDP succeeded in ushering in egalitarianism into Iraq, the intellectual politician planted the seeds of democratisation, which survived foreign occupation and the tragedy that was Baathism.
Iraq after the Arab Revolt
When Faisal I, one of the sons of the Sharif Hussain of Makkah, attended the 1919 post-War Versailles Conference and demanded independence, few Arabs knew that Britain and France carved the region through their infamous secret Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916). In the aftermath of the Arab Revolt, and unable to secure sovereignty, Faisal assumed the throne of Syria in 1920. Prodded by British representatives in Iraq who mobilised elite forces, Faisal's older brother, Abdullah, was offered the Iraqi "crown".
Still, the transition was not a smooth affair, as London ignored the Iraqi people's will and, soon after the newly founded League of Nations awarded Britain the mandates over Transjordan, Palestine and Iraq, decided to rearrange the checkerboard. France, which was granted custodianship over Syria and Lebanon, forcefully occupied Damascus and unceremoniously removed king Faisal from the throne. British occupying forces conquered Baghdad on January 10, 1919, suppressed a major Arab insurrection between July and Dec-ember 1920, and simultaneously changed the mandate into a protectorate. At the 1921 Cairo Conference, Winston Churchill — then the new British Colonial Secretary — chose the emir Faisal to be king of Iraq. In June 1921, Faisal arrived in Baghdad and the British proclaimed him monarch on August 23 after a fantastic "plebiscite" allocated him a 96 per cent approval. The ruler remained on the Iraqi throne until 1933.
A monarch and his parliament
In Baghdad, and again under British tutelage, king Faisal signed the 1924 Electoral Law that created Iraqi parliament, which consisted of a Senate (Majlis Al A'yan) and the Chamber of Deputies (Majlis Al Nuwwab). The monarch appointed the senators, while the Chamber of Deputies served four-year terms, composed of representatives divided along a ratio of one member for every 20,000 male inhabitants. For reasons that were only meant to divide and rule, parliamentary elections were designed to be extremely cumbersome and prone to executive interference. The two-step indirect process meant that primary electors chose secondary electors, who, in turn, assembled in their district headquarters and voted for the lucky deputies.
Inasmuch as Iraqis dreamt of democracy, few realised it, with Noori Al Saeed, one of the leading Iraqi politicians between 1920 and 1958 who later became prime minister, questioning whether it was possible for "a person, whatever his status in and his services for the country, [to] become a member of parliament unless the government nominate[d] him".
Comically, he challenged those who doubted this speculation to resign from parliament and "see whether they could get re-elected if they were not included on the government's list". Regrettably, the Iraq body politic produced its share of absurdity long before the Baath came to power, as one citizen learnt of his election to the Chamber of Deputies from a friend who had heard it on the radio.
Allegedly, the bewildered man asked: "Are you kidding?" In fact, he was nominated and elected for the Ammara district without being told that he ought to consider a candidacy, and was literally dictated by Noori Al Saeed what to say and how to say it.
The Iraqi poet Mohammad Mahdi Al Jawahiri used to often joke that he was made a deputy overnight long before express delivery was invented.
Formative years
It was within such an environment that Al Chadirchi operated, as he advocated a non-Marxist but democratic socialist system of government.
Al Chadirchi, the son of a former mayor of Baghdad and a highly educated young man, entered parliament when he was barely 30 years old. He quickly joined Yasin Al Hashemi's opposition party, whose plank was independence.
Like Al Hashemi, Al Chadirchi loathed British control of Iraqi domestic affairs but unlike many nationalists who just wanted to topple the British-led monarchy, Al Chadirchi was genuinely interested in democracy, which he quickly adopted as his political creed. In one of his many essays published in Al Bilad, then a leading Iraqi newspaper, Al Chadirchi advocated the need for public participation in a truly parliamentary democracy. This was the way to literally create a nation-state, he concluded, without falling into manipulative traps that colonial powers liked to set for mentally challenged leaders.
Interestingly, the determined, if not somewhat purist Al Chadirchi distanced himself from Al Hashemi and other party members after the latter compromised with king Faisal. Al Hashemi became prime minister in 1934 while another official, ostensibly someone who shared Al Chadirchi's vision, Rashid Ali Al Gaylani, became Chief of the Royal Palace. Needless to say that Al Chadirchi, along with a few trusted lieutenants, could not remain idle when many accepted the 1930 Anglo-Iraqi Treaty that, at least for him, forfeited Iraq's sovereignty.
Jama'ah Al Ahali (The People's Group)
Parallel to his parliamentary activities, the erudite Al Chadirchi was quite impressed by a group of college-educated intellectuals, whose ideas advocated the establishment of a relatively liberal society starting in 1931.
Several members were greatly influenced by the democratic principles of the French Revolution and by European socialism, especially Fabianism, a British socialist movement whose purpose was to advance the principles of democratic socialism via gradualist and reformist, rather than revolutionary, means.
Impressed by their programmes and outlook, Al Chadirchi joined the group in 1934, perhaps to play the role of leader among awakened young Iraqis rather than remain a marginalised partner among older politicians anxious to accommodate the monarchy's whimsical planks.
Within two years, Al Chadirchi proved to be the outstanding Ahali official, as Mohammad Hadid, Hussain Jameel, Abd Al Fattah Ebrahim and Abd Al Qader Esmail, all of whom studied or travelled abroad, entrusted the Baghdadi the editorship of their newspaper.
Under his leadership, Al Ahali became one of the few organisations in Iraq at the time to articulate and adopt a coherent social and economic ideology, which was known as sha`biyyah (populism), and that stressed welfare for all, regardless of class, ethnicity or religion.
At a time when the Palace ignored the masses, Al Ahali's reform programmes reflected the interests of both peasants and workers, emphasising the need to achieve social transformation and calling for limitations on land ownership.
Al Chadirchi managed to enlarge the group's membership as he cajoled disillusioned older politicians to join those who wished to spread liberalism.
Long before similar calls were heard elsewhere in the Arab world, the organisation beckoned for formal political education to bring Iraq out of its depressed political situation.
Although sha'biyyah recognised patriotism as an important force, it rejected nationalism, especially chauvinistic nationalism, which it saw as having a history full of blood, tyranny and hypocrisy. It emphasised "the people" rather than the individual, insisted on the protection of essential human rights, especially liberty, private property and equality of opportunity, and promoted the basic notion that the state must pay special attention to the health and education of each Iraqi to ensure that every able-bodied individual can contribute to society.
Few organisations in Iraqi history left a similar impact as key ideas — economic empowerment and political thought — mobilised activists.
In fact, Al Ahali was so popular that many military officers joined, as many pledged to carry out Al Ahali theory by overthrowing the ruling oligarchy. This proved to be disastrous and distorted the group's goals even if Al Chadirchi drew a life-long lesson from the experience: Good change can only succeed through peaceful methods. Ultimately the group came apart into three separate entities — as political parties were still formally banned — all of which continued to oppose the monarchy.
National Democratic Party
Still the editor of the Sawt Al Ahali, Al Chadirchi wrote a scathing editorial on September 23, 1942, in which he asserted the constitutional right of Iraqis, which he insisted ought to include free expression of opinion, open elections and the creation of trade unions and political parties.
Such liberties, Al Chadirchi believed, would allow an enlightened public to respect and apply laws that, in turn, will ensure internal stability.
Equally important, the "democrat" understood, awakened and responsible citizens could then make intelligent decisions regarding economic problems, ranging from land distribution to various social considerations. It was important to note that Al Chadirchi wished to discuss these matters and act upon them in public without any preconceptions and without resorting to clandestine activities.
When political parties were allowed in 1946, and in the middle of competing forces that stressed democracy, Al Chadirchi lost many followers — who joined the unlicensed Iraqi Communist Party — because few wished to obey the laws of the land. He insisted that the time was ripe to distinguish their organisation by adopting clear socialist principles that would need to support democratisation as the latter without the former was tantamount only to legalised exploitation.
Towards that end, he redirected the Hizb Al Watanih Al Dimuqratih in a moderate, socialist direction as soon as 1946. The NDP functioned mainly as an extension of the 1930s, Al Ahali group and its leading members, included Mohammad Hadid, Abd Al Karim Al Uzari, Hussain Jameel, Yousuf Al Haj Elyas and Sadiq Kammunah.
Critics contended that the NDP failed to articulate a clear philosophy since Al Chadirchi's principles guided the party. Regardless of such detractions, the NDP's primary emphasis was the achievement of fundamental reforms in the political, economic, social and cultural life of Iraq according to sound principles of equality and liberty to transform Iraq from an underdeveloped society into a modernising and democratic one.
It was fascinating to read in hindsight that it seldom wavered from the ideas of democracy and reform and that Al Chadirchi almost always opposed cooperation with the military.
Perhaps his best bequest was the cate-gorical refusal to engage in clandestine political activities, preferring to suspend its activities whenever parties were dissolved, rather than resort to cloak and dagger machinations.
Over the years, Baghdad used direct methods to prevent unwanted constituencies from participating in parliamentary life, such as sending opposition members to prison and forging election results.
Al Chadirchi argued that these and other oppressive measures turned Iraq into a "police state" under a parliamentary and constitutional guise. Detractors alleged that he was one of a handful of civilians who knew in advance of the timing of the 1958 revolution, speculating that he would receive a high position in the Abd Al Karim Qasim government, though he preferred to delegate NDP representation to other party members such as Hussain Jameel and Mohammad Hadid.
Regardless of what he knew and when he knew it, he subsequently criticised Qasim in newspaper and magazine articles, which in turn prompted Qasim to warn Al Chadirchi to stop his public criticism of the regime or risk being imprisoned. In 1954, he was elected to parliament but lost his seat under duress and henceforth refused to join any government.
The NDP ceased its political activities on February 8, 1963, the day when Qasim was overthrown in a Baathist coup that also quashed communist-led resistance, as Abd Al Salam Arif became president. By November 1963, moderate military Baathist officers were gradually eased out of power, which meant that the party was no longer in full control.
Al Chadirchi died in 1964 and did not live to see the July 14, 1968 bloodless coup led by General Ahmad Hassan Al Bakr, Saddam Hussain and Salah Omar Al Ali that brought the Baath back to power. In February 2004, that is a year after Saddam Hussain was toppled, the NDP resumed its political activities under the leadership of Hudayb Al Haj Mahmoud. The new NDP called for the establishment of "a federal, multiparty, unified, and democratic system" in Iraq, with Nasser Kamil Al Chadirchi as a co-leader, and with the newspaper Al Ahali as its official organ.
Legacy
Despite his opposition to the use of force and his support of the democratic process, Al Chadirchi allowed the groups he led to participate in military coups in 1936 and 1958, which greatly undermined these parties. He favoured cohesion and solidarity of a smaller body rather than tolerating differences among many followers.
Consequently, notwithstanding his strength of character and liberal philosophy, a lack of flexibility and unwillingness to work with other groups and leaders to form broader political organisations greatly limited his influence.
Nevertheless, and regardless of these shortcomings, Al Chadirchi was a pure Iraqi, a rare professional politician who believed in democracy — albeit with a socialist face — at a time when few of his compatriots understood that patriotism required a little more than mere loyalty.
He, at least, was persuaded that Iraqis were capable of greatness if they invested in themselves.
Dr Joseph A. Kéchichian is an author, most recently of Faysal: Saudi Arabia's King for All Seasons (2008).
Published on the third Friday of each month, this article is part of a series on Arab leaders who greatly influenced political affairs in the Middle East.
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Legacy of an idealist
Kamil Al Chadirchi (1897-1964) was born in Baghdad, the son of the capital city's mayor under Ottoman rule, into a well-off aristocratic family that originated in Anatolia and settled in Iraq around the mid-1600s.
The young boy received primary and high school education before the British occupation and served briefly in the Ottoman Army during the First World War. When London subjugated Baghdad, the Al Chadirchis escaped to Constantinople and Kamil entered the medical college there. He did not complete his studies but returned to Baghdad when a national regime was established, in 1922. Al Chadirchi earned a law degree in 1925, briefly worked for the Municipality of Baghdad and held a key educational post in the newly created Department of Finance. He was first elected to parliament in 1927 when he was 30 and served as minister of works (1936-1937), though he resigned from that post in protest against the army's interference in governmental affairs. In 1954, he entered parliament for the last time. He was an idealist and one of the leaders of Jama'ah Al Ahali and later the leader of the National Democratic Party. A leading leftist politician, journalist and pamphleteer, Al Chadirchi loved photography and took many pictures of Iraqi life in the 1920s and 1930s. He died in 1964 in Baghdad and is survived by two sons, Nasser, an Iraqi politician, and Rif'at, the eldest who studied architecture at Hammersmith College in London and became one of Iraq's most prominent architects (and served in Saddam Hussain's jails for a time). Rif'at married Balkis, the daughter of Mohammad Shararah, an author and teacher of south Lebanese ancestry.
