Independent Forces: The elections are a step toward the emergence of new political references that r

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[size=52]Independent Forces: The elections are a step toward the emergence of new political references that revive citizens’ hopes[/size]

[size=45]Independent MP Sajjad Salem confirmed yesterday, Sunday, that the provincial councils will work to limit parties’ control over projects and local governments.[/size]
[size=45]Salem said, in a press statement followed by Al-Mada, that “the provincial council elections scheduled to be held next December 18 differ from their predecessors due to the strong participation of civil and emerging forces and independent figures,” noting that “this matter will make the provincial councils a new cycle.” “In limiting the parties’ control over projects and local governments, which they have controlled for years.”[/size]
[size=45]He added that "the civil and emerging forces and independent figures had an active and influential presence in the House of Representatives," noting that "this parliamentary activity prompted many parties to overthrow it in various ways."[/size]
[size=45]The independent representative stressed “the necessity of continuing work to strengthen the role of civil and emerging forces and independent figures in the governorate councils, so that there are free voices opposing any corruption and exclusivity in local governments and preventing any exploitation of public money for partisan interests.”[/size]
[size=45]As the date for holding them approaches, the return of the provincial councils through local elections scheduled to be held at the end of this year has begun to preoccupy the Iraqi political scene, dividing opinions about the extent of its importance and influence, in conjunction with fears that it will contribute to the production of new “dictatorships” in addition to the emergence of “groups” that control funds. And influence, weapons, and media in the governorates, or it may be a step towards the emergence of new political references that revive the citizens’ hopes.[/size]
[size=45]Absence is better than presence[/size]
[size=45]Based on his previous experience in the Provincial Council, the former member of the Karbala Provincial Council, Alaa Al-Ghanimi, appears to be from the party that refuses to return to the provincial councils, describing that step as a “mistake,” reinforcing his opinion that “the negatives in it were more than the positives,” expecting that “ It does not bring about any positive change in the reality of services provided to citizens and government performance.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Ghanimi says, “The country’s reality has become more deteriorating after each local or central election cycle, and that the political mood is changing for the worse, and has graduated from the goals of obtaining voters’ votes to controlling money and influence and then employment and the ruin of the country, and at each stage we see that the previous one is better than it.” .[/size]
[size=45]Professional academic figures fail to perform their role and tasks in the governorate councils - according to Al-Ghanimi - and will not be able to provide anything. “We no longer see a state that respects the citizen, and what exists is based on some sectors only,” he said.[/size]
[size=45]The grip of the big parties[/size]
[size=45]For his part, former member of the Karbala Provincial Council, Muhammad Al-Talqani, does not deny that the provincial councils are correct in terms of the idea, but the incorrect performance that occurred in them made public public opinion judge them as failed and negative. Preparing the Provincial Council that it is an entity whose job is to protect the rights of the masses and preserve their gains, and we support its return.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Talqani adds: “Local governments (councils and governors) are a reflection of the center - the government and the parties - and the latter usually controls the governorates, and this is the reason why their councils do not perform their true role, and are not given freedom to work, through political pressures or restrictions in exercising their powers.[/size]
[size=45]He acknowledges that the good performance of the governorate councils depends on its members who will be elected, and therefore the citizen must carefully consider his choice and to whom he will cast his vote.[/size]
[size=45]In turn, former member of the Karbala Provincial Council, Dr. Ahmed Al-Yasiri, says: “The provincial councils are among the successful democratic experiments, but the corrupt parties, influence and political money corrupted them, and they turned from positive to negative, and the members of those councils became representatives of their parties and the parties that stand behind them and not of The masses, and thus this reality was reflected in community services and citizen comfort.”[/size]
[size=45]He points out that “the problems of the political blocs in the center are usually transferred to the provincial councils because most of their members are affiliated with the same blocs and parties, and there was a cover for major thefts, and the councils should be employed in the correct manner and evaluated in accordance with the regulations and laws.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Yasiri, who ruled out the existence of a solution on the near horizon, given that the parties and blocs controlled the source of decision-making, money, weapons, influence, and even the media, and the reality has become complex and it is not easy to get rid of them, added, saying: But hope remains related to society’s awareness of delivering independent and competent people to the governorate councils.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Yasiri pointed out that “some governorates allocate large amounts of money to them, and if there are no oversight bodies such as the provincial council or the central government over local administrations, public money will be loose and vulnerable to theft and corruption, and new parties, militias, and new influential people will appear for us,” according to his opinion.[/size]
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