Adnan Pachachi

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Adnan Pachachi

Adnan Pachachi (Arabic: عدنان الباجه جي) (born on May 14, 1923 in Baghdad), is the scion of a Sunni Arab family with a long tradition in Iraqi politics. He was a member of the Iraqi Governing Council and held its presidency in a particularly bad month, January 2004. Critics claim this experience illustrated his inability to unite or lead the country. He already served as foreign minister during the regime of presidents Abdul Salam Arif and Abdul Rahman Arif in 1965-67 and as permanent representative to the United Nations in 1959-65 and 1967-68. He returned to Iraq in May 2003 after 32 years in exile — he left Baghdad in 1971 to settle in the United Arab Emirates. While there, he acted as advisor to the Emir (and publicly kissed his hand in a traditional act of deference.) This was an unpopular move with many Iraqis who have often denounced the Persian Gulf monarchies as illegitimate and reactionary.

Adnan Pachachi, left, and Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein

On June 1, 2004, he was reportedly nominated to be the next president of Iraq. He seems, however, to lack a reasonable support base, and has stated that someone who engenders less opposition was needed.

Pachachi at the U.S. Capitol in January, 2004.

A liberal secularist, Pachachi put together a list of candidates in the Assembly of Independent Democrats movement to contest Iraq's January 2005 legislative election. However, his party failed to win a seat in the assembly with only around 12,000 votes. For the December 2005 elections, he joined the list headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi. Pachachi opened the first session of the Iraqi National Assembly in April 2005, as the oldest member elected and following Arab political tradition.