Abd Ar-Rahman Al-Bazzaz - Reformist

Reformist

After World War II, Al-Bazzaz was released from jail and was chosen as the dean of the Baghdad Law College. In 1956 he was forced out by the government for protesting against the invasion of Egypt by France, England and Israel. He signed a petition that was very critical of Iraq's government's stand during the Suez crisis. Al-Bazzaz returned to the Baghdad Law College as the dean after the revolution in 1958. Al-Bazzaz’s interest in the pan-Arab movement again put him in disagreement with the new government of Abd al-Karim Qasim (1958–1963). In 1959, there was the rise of Colonel ‘Abd al-Wahhab al-Shawwaf who was the Commander of the Mosul Garrison and instigated a rebellion after four days of fight he was killed and the uprising was crushed. Following the collapse of the Shawwaf uprising Al-Bazzaz was arrested and tortured. After his release, Al-Bazzaz went to Egypt, where he became the dean of the Institute of Arab Studies at the Arab League.

Al-Bazzaz was a prolific writer. He published more than twelve books about law, Iraq's history, Arab nationalism, and Islam. In his writings, he saw no obvious contradiction between Arab nationalism and Islam. Arab nationalism was not based on race or solidarity of the blood. It was based on ties of language, history, spirituality, and basic interests in life. In addition to religious belief, Islam was viewed as a social system, a philosophy of life, a system of economics and of government.

Abd al-Rahman Al-Bazzaz strongly promoted the rule of law and an end to military officers who had conquered Iraq's politics since the revolution in July 1958. Al-Bazza’s government became increasingly civilianized. He replaced the Revolutionary Military Council with the National Defense Council and limited its function in regard to defense and internal security. The political system was open compared with previous regimes. As prime minister, Al-Bazzaz held numerous news conferences and appeared on radio and television. Constructive criticism was encouraged, and he promised to restore parliamentary life and hold elections as soon as possible.

Al-Bazzaz announced the First Five Year Plan which advocated prudent socialism, which attempted to balance the public and private sectors. He advocated joint ventures between public and private sectors as well as between foreign and domestic investors. The theory of prudent socialism is to increase production without abandoning equal distribution.

Another policy that Al-Bazzaz tried to institute was the twelve-point agreement. Its purpose was to provide constitutional recognition of the Kurdish nationality and to recognize Kurdish as an official language of Iraq. The plan was to hold a parliamentary election within the period mandated in the provisional constitution of 1964. It provided for representation of the Kurds in all branches of the government. It gave the Kurds the right to organize their own political parties and publish their own newspapers. However, Al-Bazzaz was forced to resign in August 1966, and the agreement was never was signed.