Kirkuk is back to Sudanese... and Diyala is stuck between the governor and the clan

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[size=52]Kirkuk is back to Sudanese... and Diyala is stuck between the governor and the clan[/size]

[size=45]Baghdad/ Tamim Al-Hassan[/size]
[size=45]The winning forces in Kirkuk are awaiting a new meeting with the Prime Minister to form the local government, while Diyala is still in the “governor and the clan” dilemma. The parties in Kirkuk have only about 10 days to resolve differences over key positions, as everyone is fighting over the position of governor. On the other hand, a party and a clan in Diyala, the clan of former governor Muthanna al-Tamimi, controls the fate of the local government, which has been suspended for more than a month.[/size]
[size=45]About 70 days have passed since the end of the local elections, while the provincial council sessions in Kirkuk and Diyala are still suspended until further notice due to political differences.[/size]
[size=45]The collapse of a previous agreement for the “coordination framework” regarding the formation of local governments had caused the return of 3 former governors, and the coalition then tried to show that what happened was not outside the agreement.[/size]
[size=45]Asaad Al-Eidani (Basra), Muhammad Al-Mayahi (Wasit), and Nassif Al-Khattabi (Karbala) received a second term for the position of governor despite the “framework” agreement not to renew any personality.[/size]
[size=45]Within the 30 days following the local elections that took place last year, the Shiite alliance decided to control 7 governorates.[/size]
[size=45]The State of Law coalition, led by Nouri al-Maliki, won the governorate of Baghdad, Al-Hikma (Ammar Al-Hakim) won Najaf, and Al-Asa’ib (Qais Al-Khazali) won Babel.[/size]
[size=45]The position of governor in Dhi Qar also went to Al-Hikma, Al-Muthanna to the Virtue Party, and Maysan and Diwaniyah to the Badr Organization (Hadi Al-Amiri).[/size]
[size=45]Some count the governorates of Basra and Karbala as part of the Shiite alliance’s share, as Al-Eidani belongs to the Design Alliance and is within the “framework,” and Al-Khattabi also heads a bloc affiliated with Al-Maliki (Karbala Creativity).[/size]
[size=45]The major crisis facing the Shiite group now is in Diyala, the sectarianly mixed city that contains the largest concentration of factions in the country.[/size]
[size=45]In the latest developments in this regard, leaks indicate that there is an agreement to propose a settlement portfolio between the Badr Organization and Asaib Ahl al-Haq.[/size]
[size=45]Diyala is one of the first governorates to be liberated from ISIS in 2015, and since that time the Badr Organization has taken control of the security and political files.[/size]
[size=45]The organization managed the governorate from then on until disputes erupted between it and Asaib Ahl al-Haq regarding the position of governor.[/size]
[size=45]The leaks indicate that the State of Law, led by Nouri al-Maliki, will take the position of governor, on the condition that the candidate be from the Muthanna al-Tamimi clan, the former governor.[/size]
[size=45]From the beginning, Al-Amiri had made arrangements to anticipate any problem occurring in Diyala, by concluding a deal between the position of Speaker of Parliament and the governor, according to some leaks.[/size]
[size=45]The leaks said at the time that Al-Amiri agreed with the team of Muhammad Al-Halbousi, the ousted Speaker of Parliament, to vote in favor of his “Taqadum” party in exchange for supporting his candidate in Diyala.[/size]
[size=45]The Badr Organization has 4 seats, compared to 2 seats for Asaib, and 3 seats for the Al-Halbousi team in Diyala.[/size]
[size=45]After the collapse of the Shiite agreement to form local governments, it became appropriate at the time to grant Muthanna Al-Tamimi (Governor of Diyala for Badr) a second term, but Asa’ib refused.[/size]
[size=45]Al-Amiri, whose movement is restricted, according to some reports, which say that he cannot visit Diyala - as he does in every event - due to fears of being targeted by American planes, tried again to resolve the crisis, but from afar.[/size]
[size=45]The Badr leader suddenly nominated Muhammad Al-Amiri, the son of the President of the Federal Court, Jassim Al-Amiri, but he then backed down due to the age of the candidate, and after that he presented more than 10 candidates, all of whom are from the clan of the former governor.[/size]
[size=45]But before that, the crisis had taken on another dimension, as supporters of Governor Muthanna Al-Tamimi, a large clan in Diyala, came out and closed the streets in objection to the candidate.[/size]
[size=45]Until now, the work of the Diyala Governorate Council has been suspended, due to the “Badr” and “Asa’ib” boycotts, and the two do not have a sufficient quorum majority.[/size]
[size=45]Kirkuk crisis[/size]
[size=45]To the north of Diyala, the forces that won the elections are waiting for a new meeting with Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani to resolve differences over the position of governor. Hidayat Taher, the head of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan Party’s organizations in Kirkuk, told Al-Mada: “Next March 3, there will be a meeting with the Prime Minister to inform him of the latest developments.”[/size]
[size=45]Al-Sudani previously announced, at a meeting of the political forces that won the Kirkuk Provincial Council elections, an “agreement of principles” to proceed with the formation of the local government in the governorate.[/size]
[size=45]Taher confirms that “the upcoming meeting will be based on each bloc presenting its project for the Kirkuk administration, as the winning parties had agreed to write a paper about their demands and the distribution of positions and administration.”[/size]
[size=45]Those meeting with Al-Sudani announced a week ago the formation of a “Kirkuk Administration Coalition” of all the winning forces in the Provincial Council, headed by the Prime Minister until the implementation of the constitutional entitlements in forming the local government. They also agreed on the program, its mechanism, and the internal regulations of the coalition.[/size]
[size=45]In the Patriotic Union, he points out that his party and the Kurdistan Democratic Party “agreed that the position of governor be for the Kurds,” even though the latter party stipulated that “the governor be Kurdish but independent,” according to what Taher says.[/size]
[size=45]Some Arabs in Kirkuk agree with the vision of the Kurdish parties regarding the position of governor, while the Turkmen reject this demand.[/size]
[size=45]Hidayat Taher says that despite the differences, there are preliminary understandings for all political forces in Kirkuk on “everyone’s participation, not marginalizing any party or component, and maintaining balance.”[/size]
[size=45]The Kurdish leader points out that there are other positions besides the governor that can be distributed among the rest of the blocs, such as the presence of 4 mayors, including one in the center, and a number of directorates.[/size]
[size=45]Taher expects that the differences will be resolved in the upcoming meeting with the Sudanese, and the first session could be held next March 5.[/size]
[size=45]The Kurdish leader says that the meeting with the Prime Minister will be the last opportunity, “because the Provincial Council had held a session without a quorum on February 5, and it is assumed that a month after this date we will hold an official session, otherwise we will have violated the legal deadlines.”[/size]
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