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Iraq
Women in decision-making positions
27%
Members of local deliberative bodies are women (76 elected women)
No woman is Head of State or Government
29%
Parliamentarians are women
13%
Ministers are women

Government organization

Spheres of government

Iraq is a federal republic with three spheres of government: federal, intermediate (the Kurdistan Region), and local.

One tier of central government, one tier of partial intermediate government and three tiers of local government.

  • Head of State: The President is elected by the Council of Representatives.
  • Head of Government: The Prime Minister is the nominee of the largest Council of Representatives bloc, as designated by the President.
  • Legislative body: The Council of Representatives is a unicameral legislature whose members are directly elected by voters.
  • Executive body: The Council of Ministers, presided over by the Prime Minister, is composed of members designated by the Prime Minister to be approved by a vote of confidence of the Council of Representatives.

  • Legislative body: The Kurdistan Parliament is a unicameral legislature whose members are directly elected by voters of the Kurdistan Region.
  • Executive body: The Kurdistan Regional Government is comprised of the President of the Kurdistan Region and the Cabinet. The Cabinet consists of the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, and ministers of the Kurdistan Region.

  • Organization: Local government is organized into three tiers: an upper tier of 18 governorate-level local government units, an intermediate tier of 101 district-level local government units, and a lower tier of 294 sub-district-level local government units (including the local government units established in the Kurdistan Region). The Kurdistan Region is organized into four governorates and 26 districts.
  • Competencies: Local government is responsible for setting up by-laws, supervising civil services in the locality, managing local security and policing, and approving the local budget plans.
  • Ministerial oversight: Ministry of Municipalities and Public Works

Overview of local government

Local government composition

Deliberative body: The governorate council is composed of 10-35 elected members,. A governor is elected by and from the governorate council to preside over it; the governor is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The governor is the executive at the governorate level of government.

Deliberative body: The district council is composed of at least ten elected members, with an additional member for every 50,000 inhabitants of the district territory. A council president is elected by and from the district council to preside over it; the council president is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The council president is the executive at the district level of government.

Deliberative body: The sub-district council is composed of at least seven elected members, with an additional member for every 25,000 inhabitants of the sub-district territory. A council president is elected by and from the sub-district council to preside over it; the council president is also vested with executive powers.

Executive body: The council president is the executive at the sub-district level of government.

Local government elections

Electoral system for deliberative bodies: proportional representation (open list)

  • An open party-list proportional electoral system according to the Saint-Laguë mandate distribution method is used.

Electoral system for executive bodies: no direct elections

  • The governors and council presidents are elected by and from the councils.

Source: Law of the Governorate and District Council Elections, 2018, articles 1, 9 and 12

Gender quotas: quota of result, ranking/placement

  • In governorate and district council elections, the seats are distributed among the candidates of the list according to the number of votes they obtained. However, irrespective of the number of votes obtained, after three candidates elected being men, the fourth seat will go to a woman even if it should go to a man. Overall, women’s representation should reach 25%.

Additional quotas: Christians, Sabean-Mandaeans, Faili Kurds, Yazidis, Shabaks

  • There are three reserved seats for Christians, Sabean-Mandaeans, and Faili Kurds in the Baghdad Governorate Council, three reserved seats for Christians, Yazidis, and Shabaks in the Nineveh Governorate Council, one reserved seat for Christians in the Basra Governorate Council, one reserved seat for Faili Kurds in the Wasit Governorate Council, and one reserved seat for Sabean-Mandaeans in the Maysan Governorate Council. One seat in the Kirkuk Governorate Council is allocated to the Christian component (Assyrian Syriac Chaldeans).[1]

Source: Law of the Governorate and District Council Elections, 2018, articles 12 15 and 35

  • Term length: 4 years
  • Last local elections: 2013 (in governorates); 2014 (in governorates in the Kurdistan Region)
  • Next local elections:   2022 (in governorates)

Independent High Electoral Commission

National legal framework on local government

  • Constitution of Iraq, 2005;
  • Election Law of the Governorate and District Councils, 2018
  • Law on Governorates Not Organized in a Region, 2008 (amended through 2018).

There are constitutional provisions that establish local government in Iraq. According to Articles 116 and 122 of the Constitution of Iraq of 2005, “the federal system in the Republic of Iraq is made up of a decentralized capital, regions, and governorates, as well as local administrations. The governorates shall be made up of a number of districts, sub-districts, and villages. Governorates that are not incorporated in a region shall be granted broad administrative and financial authorities to enable them to manage their affairs in accordance with the principle of decentralized administration, and this shall be regulated by law.”

The Council of Representatives is responsible for establishing the legal framework on local government. The key piece of legislation which regulates local government is the Law on Governorates Not Organized in a Region of 2008 (amended through 2018). According to Article 2 of the Law on Governorates Not Organized in a Region, “local governments shall be responsible for all administrative unit’s management requirements to comply with the principle of administrative decentralization.”

Sources:

1. UN Women: Data on share of women in local government as of 1 January 2025.

2. UN Women: Information on Head of State and Government as of 1 December 2025.

3. Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): Data on share of women in the single/lower chamber of parliament as of 1 January 2025.

4. UN Women: Data on share of women Cabinet ministers as of 1 January 2025.

5. Information on local government organization as of 1 January 2023.