Political strife intensifies in Nineveh Provincial Council over unit leaders' dismissals

Shafaq News/ Political tensions within the Nineveh Provincial Council members have escalated with the recent vote on mass dismissals of administrative unit heads.

The Nineveh Future Alliance, comprising Coordination Framework alliances and other parties, secured 16 votes out of the council's 29 members, while the Unified Nineveh Bloc, with nine seats, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, with four seats, boycotted the session and suspended their activities in the council.

The Unified Nineveh Bloc reiterated its stance on the "illegitimacy and illegality" of the procedures to elect and replace administrative unit heads in the governorate.

Ahmed Al-Abd Rabbo, a council member from the Unified Nineveh, told Shafaq News, "These procedures violate the law and the constitution," describing the replacement of administrative unit heads as "an obstacle hindering the reconstruction efforts."

Al-Abd Rabbo welcomed the call by the Nineveh Governor for dialogue, urging "political blocs to participate in order to resolve the current crisis."

Meanwhile, the Nineveh Future Alliance emphasized its commitment to proceed with the replacement and appointment of administrative unit heads in Nineveh.

Marwan Al-Taie, a council member from the Alliance, informed Shafaq News that his bloc is "advancing with the procedures to appoint administrative unit heads, considering the session held on this matter compliant with the law and the constitution."

He also noted that his bloc "will boycott the dialogue session called by the Nineveh Governor as it interferes with the council's work."

Last Monday, a number of Nineveh deputies expressed support for the Provincial Council's decisions regarding the dismissal of administrative unit heads.

Abdulrahim Al-Shammari, flanked by fellow deputies in a press conference in Mosul, stated, "We, the deputies from Nineveh and representatives of political blocs forming the local government, support the Provincial Council's decision to dismiss administrative unit heads whose legal terms have expired, including those who have held office continuously for over 20 years, and elect replacements according to the Provincial Councils Law."

Al-Shammari expressed surprise at what he described as "attempts by some deputies and council members in Nineveh to obstruct the council's work and reject democratic practices," urging governmental and political entities in Baghdad to "stand with the people of Nineveh and avoid political favoritism towards certain executive and political figures, ensuring that Nineveh does not return to the era of marginalization it endured over the past two decades."

During the conference, Al-Shammari called on political blocs that constitute Nineveh's local government to "sit together to appoint department managers and the remaining administrative unit heads according to electoral entitlements."

Last Monday, Nineveh Governor Abdulqader al-Dakhil called on stakeholders in the Nineveh Provincial Council to a dialogue session to resolve their differences.

Al-Dakhil told Shafaq News, "I invite Nineveh Council members from all blocs and components to sit down at the dialogue table in the Nineveh Provincial Council building to reach solutions that satisfy all parties and serve the city's ongoing urban development."