City Government

One of the continuing themes of local city politics in America is the tension between mayors and city councils. Different locales have tried various legal structures, such as the "strong mayor" and the "city manager" systems, and in many places there is something in-between, leading to ongoing tension between the mayor and members of the city council.

As part of the effort to introduce American-style democracy to Iraq, we've managed to export this same tension. Predictably, the Iraqis have put their own unique spin on how to cope with this problem.

BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 10 - Armed men entered Baghdad's municipal building during a blinding dust storm on Monday, deposed the city's mayor and installed a member of Iraq's most powerful Shiite militia. ...

"This is the new Iraq," said Mr. Tamimi, a secular engineer with no party affiliation. "They use force to achieve their goal."

The group that ousted him insisted that it had the authority to assume control of Iraq's capital city and that Mr. Tamimi was in no danger. The man the group installed, Hussein al-Tahaan, is a member of the Badr Organization, the armed militia of the Supreme Council for Islamic Revolution in Iraq, known as Sciri.

The militia has been credited with keeping the peace in heavily Shiite areas in southern Iraq but also accused of abuses like forcing women to wear the veils demanded by conservative Shiite religious law.

"If we wanted to do something bad to him, we would have done that," said Mazen A. Makkia, the elected city council chief who led the ouster on Monday and who had been in a lengthy and unresolved legal feud with Mr. Tamimi.

"We really want to establish the state of law for every citizen, and we did not threaten anyone," Mr. Makkia said. "This is not a coup."

Who needs recall elections, when you've got your own militia?

Update: As usual, Juan Cole has more details. He reports that the council won the January election, and therefore does have the right to appoint the mayor, and the deposee was a lingering Bremer appointment who was refusing to leave. Along the way, he provides still more interesting news about political science Iraqi-style, about intentions by Shiites to form their own independent region in the south, along the lines of the Kurds in the north. Talk about your complicated constitutional issue.

I'm not holding my breath for the constitution to be ready in a few days.