IRAQ’s YOUNGEST MP FIGHTS BACK: How Noor al-Jalihawi wants to change Iraqi politics

By Manar Al-Zubaidi in Diwaniya1

When Noor Nafeh al-Jalihawi first entered parliament in Baghdad in 2021, at the age of 29, she was often mistaken for somebody who was coming to complain to a member of parliament.

“A lot of the ministers thought I was an employee with a problem who wanted to meet them,” recounts the politician from Diwaniyah, who is now 32. But that didn’t last long, the young woman says. “Their perceptions changed over time as I proved myself,” she says.

At 32, al-Jalihawi is still one of the youngest members of the Iraqi parliament and she says she still has to do deal with some very specific prejudices — firstly because she is female and, secondly, because she is part of a younger generation of MPs who entered parliament as independents and not members of the established Iraqi political blocs. These can be roughly divided into Shiite Muslim, Sunni Muslim and Kurdish parties.

Al-Jalihawi didn’t actually intend to get into politics at all. She completed a master’s degree in history at the University of Bucharest in Romania. But then, like many young Iraqi graduates, she was not able to find a job in her speciality or in the government.

“We are the generation of unemployment,” she comments.

So instead, she opened a store selling perfumes, a trade traditionally dominated by men. Her mother opened a florist right next door at the same time and was able to support her daughter.

While she was running her own business, al-Jalihawi became more interested in the social, political and economic situation in Diwaniyah. Poverty has increased there substantially over the past few years as has unemployment. Al-Jalihawi started to become active in a number of different civil society groups and she also did voluntary work. Eventually she would come to join the youth protest movement that erupted in the southern parts of Iraq after 2019, in which demonstrators protested poor state services, lack of jobs and opportunities, and political corruption.

“Being self-employed helped build my personality and working with civil society institutions brought me closer to different segments of society and their needs,” the politician explained why she became involved in the protest movement.

Al-Jalihawi became particularly involved in getting women to participate in the protests, something that wasn’t always easy. “But we managed to overcome the challenges,” she says.

Al-Jalihawi describes the young protesters back then as heroic and selfless, only wanting the best for their country. “Through the protests I became aware of the necessity for young people to engage in political work,” she explains. “Politically conscious Iraqi youth do not deserve marginalization and exclusion, and their participation in the political process was — and is — necessary.”

When al-Jalihawi eventually ran for parliament, she expected to receive votes from others who supported or were part of what came to be known as the “October Protest Movement” or Tishreen, which was most visible between 2019 and 2021. But in fact, she received votes from many more people in Diwaniyah who had no direct connection to the movement.

“Many of them I had not even met,” she recalls. “They elected me because they wanted change and were looking for new independent candidates who were not part of the existing entities.”

Going to Iraq’s parliament in Baghdad for the first time was tough though, she concedes. “At the beginning, my suffering was immense, because many MPs — especially the veterans — did not believe in the presence of young people. They did not believe that voters would choose such young representatives and they were surprised.”
Since then, al-Jalihawi has taken on several controversial issues. She has boycotted sessions she says were simply enacting the status quo and old partisan agreements about who gets to have parliament’s most senior roles — in Iraq, these are usually divvied up between the traditional blocs. Most recently she has also collected MPs’ signatures to reject amendments to Iraq’s Personal Status Law that would harm women and cause societal division.

The strangest thing for her was the fact that during the latter, most of her supporters were men. “Most female deputies were opposed and refused to sign,” she says. “It was surprising and shocking to me, as I thought supporting women’s rights was more important than any party directive.”

Iraq has a quota for female MPs and al-Jalihawi says this is positive as it gives women more visibility and allows them to earn the trust of their constituents and society in general. However, most of the female MPS also just follow the policies dictated by the traditional parties to which they belong, she argues.

“And these directives constrain the female deputies, preventing them from deviating or opposing existing policies,” she pointed out.

Al-Jalihawi is determined not only to represent Iraq’s women but also to make voices from the south of the country more important. Often at female-specific events, the same women are invited over and over again. Al-Jalihawi wants to change this.

And during a session organized to discuss a draft law on people with disabilities, she noticed that most of the organizations represented were from Baghdad. “This made me angry, so I started to work with specialists from different regions,” she said. “Because the law should represent everyone. It is unfair to marginalize and exclude residents from the provinces.”

“Yes, there are MPs who do not pay attention to these details,” she argues. “But legislators must be neutral and consider everyone’s interests.”

There are only a small number of politicians in Iraq’s parliament who are independents like al-Jalihawi — so this makes achieving anything difficult because they are simply voted down by the major parties. However al-Jalihawi says she has managed to enact some change through her work on various parliamentary committees, such as those on labour, civil society, family and children, and tourism and antiquities.

Most likely because of her independence and her attempts at uncovering corruption, the young woman has also had to deal with a smear campaign as well as harassment in the shape of forged letters that supposedly came from her.

But she has not been deterred and will run for election again.

“I want to serve Diwaniyah, combat corruption and support women,” she states proudly. “Iraqi politics should not be left to the major parties alone. We need dissenting voices that call for change and reform.”

This story was completed as part of a series of articles supported by the “Qarib” program, a regional program funded by the French Development Agency (AFD) and implemented by the French Media Development Agency (CFI).