IRAQ: OPPOSITION TO THE POLICY OF THE ROYAL COURT AND THE REACTION OF KING GHĀZĪ (1934 – 1935)

The first government of Jamīl al-Midfacī, formed on purely personal rather than partisan lines, suffered from the divergent interests of two competing factions. When the Prime Minister failed to reconcile the rivals he tendered his resignation. However, King Ghāzī invited him to form a new government that lasted until 25 August 1934. cAlī Jawdat al-Ayyūbī, Chief of the Royal dīwān, seized the opportunity to succeed him as Prime Minister on 27 August. He soon announced his policy, which was a modest programme of reform. When he obtained the king’s approval to dissolve the parliament, he rigged the elections so that in the new parliament the Patriotic Brotherhood Party (Ḥizb al-ikhā al-waṭanī) held only twelve seats. Also excluded were some of the most prominent Shīcī tribal chieftains of the mid-Euphrates region, laying the foundation for a dangerous tactical alliance with the Patriotic Brotherhood Party. Moreover, King Ghāzī was the product of a system that exacerbated Shīcī resentment of the Sunnī-dominated state.