Naitional Progressive Front (Iraq)

The Naitional Progressive Front (, al-Jabha al-Wataniyyah at-Taqaddumiyyah, NPF, whiles kent as the Progressive Patriotic an Naitional Front) wis an Iraqi Popular Front annooncit on 16 Julie 1973 an constitutit in 1974, ostensibly formit athin the framewirk o a "joint action programme" tae establish a coalition atween the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Pairty, the Iraqi Communist Pairty, the Kurdistan Revolutionary Pairty, a pro-govrenment section o the Kurdish Democratic Pairty, an miscellaneous independents. The creation o the Front ensured the leadin role o the Ba'athists in state an society whilst allouin limitit autonomy for ither pairticipatin pairties lyal tae the govrenment. Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein spak o it ance as "ane of the essential forms tae voice oor will an tae deepen democracy an poleetical participation o the fowk an the naitional forces in biggin the new experiment in aw fields."Bhim Singh. Iraq: A Heroic Resistance. New Delhi: Har-Anand Publications. 2001. p. 245. In effect the Front wis controlled an maintained solely bi the Ba'ath, wi aw ither legal poleetical forces actin in subservience tae it.Muhammad Faour. The Arab World After Desert Storm. Washington, D.C.: US Institute of Peace Press. 1993. pp. 40-41.

Its oreegins lay in Julie 1970 when the govrenment unner Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, amid fechtin the militant Iraqi Communist Pairty (Central Command) an dealin wi Kurdish separatist militancy, affered the formation o the Front tae moderate sections o the Iraqi Communists unner conditions guaranteein Ba'athist dominance ower the state an poleetical exclusivity athin the airmit forces.Nazih N. Ayubi. Over-Stating the Arab state: Politics and Society in the Middle East. London: I.B.Tauris. 1996. p 424. Tae quell Kurdish separatist sentiment an autonomy agreement wis agreed tae in 1970 tae creaut Iraqi Kurdistan while attempts wur made tae get the Kurdistan Democratic Pairty tae jyne the Front in the 1973-1974 period.Mahboob Alam. Iraqi Foreign Policy Since Revolution Second Ed. 1995. New Delhi: Mittal Publications. pp. 25-26. This resultit in a majority section led bi Mustafa Barzani continuin tae rebel against the state while a smawer faction jynt the Front.David McDowall. A Modern History of the Kurds Third Rev. Ed. London: I.B.Tauris. 2004. p. 337.

The Iraqi Communists, despite entry intae the Front, continued tae experience repression sic as the arrest o factory members, execution o members athin the airmit forces, an strang censorship o the ICP's daily newspaper.Tariq Ali. Bush in Babylon: the Recolonisation of Iraq. London: Verso. 2004. p. 118, 121. Bi 1979 the leadership o the ICP wis aither arrestit or in exile, wi the pairty itsel formally athdrawin frae the Front bi 1980 tae openly oppose the govrenment.Taru Bahl and M.H. Syed (Ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Muslim World. New Delhi: Anmol Publications. 2003. p. 180. In the 1995-2000 period a sma pro-govrenment Popular Unity Pairty, then cried the Iraqi Communist Pairty at the time, led bi Yusuf Hamdan wis proclaimit an its existence wis toleratit, tho it wis no a formal member o the Front.Ilario Salucci. A People's History of Iraq: The Iraqi Communist Party, Workers' Movements and the Left, 1924-2004. Chicago, IL: Haymarket Books. 2005. p. 103.

Upon the formation o Iraq's Naitional Assembly in 1980 the Front wis tasked wi nominatin candidates tae staund in elections.Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz and Christof Hartmann (Ed.). Elections in Asia and the Pacific: A Data Handbook Volume I. New York: Oxford University Press. 2001. p. 88. Throughoot its existence the Secretary General o the Front wis Naim Haddad. It wis disbandit in 2003 follaein the owerthrow o the Ba'athist Govrenment in the Iraq War.The Europa World Year Book 2004 Volume I. London: Taylor & Francis. 2004. p. 2200.

See an aw
Republic o Iraq (1968-2003)

References

Category:Arab naitionalist poleetical pairties
Category:Arab socialist poleetical pairties
Category:Poleetical pairties in Iraq
Category:Far-left politics
Category:Poleetical pairties established in 1972
Category:Poleetical pairties disestablished in 2003
Category:Popular fronts