In countries that have experienced civil wars or transition from authoritarian rule, national reconciliation has been considered a strategic aim to overcome past phases and a starting point towards the construction process.
Every state has its own experience with national reconciliation; however, such experiences do not undermine the importance of some of the key commonalities that contribute to new and future experiences.
Since the start of the national reconciliation process, Iraq adopted an approach aimed at harmony, unity and prevention of ethnic and sectarian divisions. Nevertheless, the inclination to reconciliation does not depend solely on one party but on the real will of all parties. The first element missing in the Iraqi national reconciliation experience is trust, followed by not wanting to give up the social and official positions for some parties involved in the reconciliation process.
The following basic prerequisites are essential for national reconciliation to be practical and effective:
Firstly: firm will for transition of national reconciliation from a mere topic to an actual approach and conduct accompanied by a media campaign for public opinion to understand and accept reconciliation.
Secondly: willingness to mutually waive certain rights and privileges, in order to overcome radicalised complexities or sectarian benefits, sectarianism and nationalism.
Thirdly: efforts to carry out social justice; especially in the phase after the fall of the regime, and create a sense that there is no loser in the national reconciliation process. Yet, the national reconciliation faces real obstacles, including constitutional challenges that require all of us to collectively work to overcome them by amending necessary aspects of the Constitution, given that the approved amendments do not contradict with democracy.
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