Bremer's mission is finished, but his impact lingers
WASHINGTON -- L. Paul Bremer III, the US administrator who ruled Iraq for 14 months, handed over sovereignty and flew home yesterday. But the decrees he issued under the US-led occupation will likely remain in effect for many months -- and shape Iraq for years to come.
His edicts, which range from a 15 percent maximum tax to suspending the death penalty, carry the force of law in Iraq and supersede Iraq's own legal code if the two are in conflict.
In his last month in power, Bremer issued a flurry of orders that carry the force of law long after yesterday's handover of sovereignty.
The nearly two dozen pronouncements issued in June spell out new rules on everything from how a private security contractor must obtain an operating license to what can disqualify a political party or candidate from elections.
''It's sort of like a parent laying out all these orders for a kid the day before they go to college," said Peter W. Singer, a fellow at the Brookings Institution. ''If a new sovereign Iraqi government says, 'We don't like that regulation. We're changing it.' What's going to happen? The CPA [US-led Coalition Provisional Authority] doesn't exist."
Some of his measures are already controversial.
On Sunday, for example, Bremer signed a law that would ensure that foreign military and contractors would be exempt from Iraqi legal action after the handover of sovereignty to the Iraqis.
One of Bremer's most sweeping decrees was the law that laid down the foundations for elections in Iraq, stipulating in part that it only takes 500 signatures to be recognized as a political party and giving a seven-member commission the power to disqualify any political party or candidate.
Bremer issued the order in cooperation with the United Nation's electoral team, according to a UN diplomat.
But it remains unclear to what extent the new government will enforce Bremer's laws, which many Iraqis grew to resent. For example, Bremer's election law disqualifies any candidate or political party that is affiliated with or funded by a militia.
''Right now, all the major parties have a militia," said Leslie Campbell, regional director for the Middle East the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs, which provides training and advice to political parties in Iraq. ''I don't think this reflects the broad views of Iraqis."
According to the Transitional Administrative Law, an interim constitution passed by the US-appointed Iraqi Governing Council, Bremer's orders will stay in effect at least until an elected government takes power, which is expected to take place in January of 2005, unless a majority of Iraq's ministers, the interim president, and two vice presidents all agree to overturn them.
This limitation resulted partly from the demands of the Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani that the interim Iraqi government refrain from passing laws that will affect the long-term future of the country until an election takes place.
Bremer's last-minute edicts have drawn criticism and suspicion from those who say the process has not been transparent.
''Anybody who truly wants to exercise sovereignty would be somewhat concerned about the legality of these edicts that have been essentially left for them," said Michael Amitay, the director of the Washington Kurdish Institute, a nonprofit organization that conducts humanitarian aid programs in Iraqi Kurdistan. ''What does sovereignty mean if you have a set of laws that you have to follow regardless of who is in charge?"
