CHRONOLOGY: Iraq: The long road to democracy

Baghdad - Iraqis have been struggling to form a new political order since the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein in April 2003. Here are the first key steps in its establishment of a new democracy:

July 2003: The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA), a caretaker administration, starts work under US supervision. In September it names a transitional government.

October 2003: The UN grants US-led troops a mandate for military deployment in Iraq.

December 2003: US soldiers find former dictator Saddam Hussein in a hole in the earth near the town of Tikrit.

March 2004: The CPA signs a transitional constitution.

June 2004: The CPA is dissolved. A transitional government led by secular Shiite Iyad Allawi is given the task of preparing free elections. Ghazi al-Jawar becomes president.

August 2004: A national conference elects a national assembly, which is intended to function as a transitional parliament.

January 2005: The Shiite dominated United Iraqi Alliance wins an absolute majority in the elections for the transitional parliament, followed by the Kurdish Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan and Allawi's Iraqi List.

April 2005: The parliament elects Hajim al-Hassani as speaker and Kurdish leader Jalal Talabani as president of Iraq.

May 2005: The new government led by Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jafari (Shiite Dawa Party) is sworn in.

October 2005: Iraqis vote overwhelmingly in favor of the draft of a new constitution in a referendum.

December 2005: Iraqis elect the first regular parliament after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The alliance of Shiite parties wins, but fails to gain an absolute majority. A government is set to be formed with Kurds and Sunnis.

May 2006: The parliament announces its support for the government of Nuri al-Maliki. But the cabinet is not complete. The posts of interior minister and defence minister, both particularly important because of the worsening security situation, are not filled until June.

August 2006: Under al-Maliki's leadership, a conference begins which includes the leaders of Iraqi tribes and clans. The aim is a national reconciliation.

November 2006: A special tribunal sentences Hussein to death for crimes against humanity. He is hanged in December.

August 2008: The US and Iraq agree that US troops will withdraw by the end of 2011. There are still 146,000 US soldiers in Iraq.

January 2009: Iraqi troops take over control of the Green Zone in Baghdad from the Americans. At the end of the month the most peaceful provincial elections to date take place. Al-Maliki's State of Law coalition emerges as the strongest party.

March 2009: British troops leave Iraq. In a ceremony in the port city of Basra, the British military commander hands over control of the southern province to the US military.

June 2009: US troops transfer control of cities and villages all over Iraq to Iraqi security services.

November 2009: The Iraqi parliament approves the long disputed election law and clears the way for parliamentary elections. Some small changes are included to avoid the Sunni Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi vetoing the law a second time.

January 2010: The electoral commission excludes over 500 candidates from participating in parliamentary elections, now scheduled for March, due to their connections with the Baath Party. Some of those affected by the ban are allowed to stand after all, after examination on individual cases.

Source: Earth Times.
Link: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/312733,chronology-iraq-the-long-road-to-democracy.html.