It is not possible to talk about a democratic system in which power is transferred peacefully through the mechanism of elections by free vote, without the participation of political parties, and therefore it seems that the party system and contemporary representative democracy are synonymous, or inseparable from each other.
In Iraq, political parties have existed since the birth of the modern Iraqi state. Rather, it can be said that the parties preceded the birth of Iraq, and contributed to its establishment, through the first men of the Iraqi state.
In this paper, we present a quick historical overview of party life in Iraq, then we will focus on the party life and the party system after 2003, the challenges facing this system, and the importance of parties to maintain the process of building democracy and their role in the peaceful transfer of government.
