Baghdad / Tamim Al-Hassan
Officially, the new political map that will precede the expected local elections in less than 10 months has been launched, while the party of Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani revealed that the implementation of some clauses of the political agreement had stalled.
On the other hand, the predictions of Muhammad al-Halbousi, Speaker of Parliament, of a “political coup in 2023” came close to being realized, as 4 leaders were absent from the last meeting of the ruling coalition, the “State Administration Coalition,” whose statement revealed conflicting positions.
Meanwhile, State of Law, led by Nuri al-Maliki, lost its first high-ranking local post after the government’s decision to “withdraw the hand” of the governor of Diwaniyah, who is the first governor appointed by name to be removed since al-Sudani assumed the premiership.
Sources in Diwaniyah told (Al-Mada) that “Al-Fatah Alliance and the Fadila Party have exerted pressure since last year to remove Zuhair Al-Shaalan, affiliated with State of Law, from the position of governor,” noting that “there is a long history of competition between Fadila and State of Law for the position.”
Yesterday, the office of Prime Minister Muhammad al-Sudani stated in a brief statement that the latter “issued an order to withdraw the hand of the governor of Diwaniyah, Zuhair Ali al-Shaalan, due to the presence of investigative files against him on suspicions of administrative and financial corruption, which are being considered by the competent courts.”
Last August, a group of deputies belonging to al-Fadhilah and other Shiite forces, with the exception of the State of Law, announced the formation of a united front in Diwaniya, and demanded at that time the governor’s dismissal. At that time, the Front, which was called “Deputies of Diwaniyah”, called for the formation of an investigative committee as soon as possible to follow up on financial and administrative violations in the province.
At that time, it also demanded that former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi hold an emergency meeting of the Council of Ministers in the province to address drought problems, plan regional development projects, and establish a reconstruction fund.
Al-Shaalan is the first governor to be removed from office after the 3-month grace period granted by Al-Sudani to assess the governors.
The dissolved Diwaniyah Provincial Council dismissed Al-Shaalan in 2019 from his position, one month after he was chosen, and appointed in his place the current deputy, Faisal Al-Naili of the Virtue Party, before the council backtracked again and returned the former to the post. At that time, the clan of the dismissed governor took to the streets to protest the removal of Al-Shaalan from office, blocking roads and burning tires.
In June of that year, the National Approach Party – the new name of the Virtue Party – had lost its arm in Diwaniyah after the dismissal of the governor, Sami Al-Hasnawi, and the selection of Al-Shaalan in his place.
Three months after that date, information was published about Al-Hasnawi’s arrest on charges of corruption in the province.
In 2021, he was sentenced to one year in prison, with a suspended sentence, for wasting more than two billion dinars, according to a statement by the Integrity Commission, which shortly afterwards announced that he was summoned again for investigation.
Al-Hasnawi was a substitute for Governor Ammar Al-Madani, who is from the Virtue Party, and who resigned in 2015 during the protests that erupted at the time in Diwaniyah and a number of provinces.
The government’s decision to remove the governor of Diwaniyah opens the parties’ marathon to control the provinces in preparation for the local elections that are supposed to take place next October. It is likely that the other governor who will fall among the new changes is the governor of Wasit, Muhammad al-Mayahi, who in the recent elections approached the Sadrist movement despite his previous affiliation with the al-Hikma movement led by Ammar al-Hakim.
differences map
The parties are trying to impose a political map before the elections by replacing the conservatives or obtaining the loyalties of some of them.
This file caused a severe disagreement within the Shiite coordination framework between al-Sudani and al-Maliki, who criticized the government for considering it a “retreat” from its previous decision to dismiss the governors of Dhi Qar and Najaf, who are affiliated with the Sadrist movement.
And the prime minister had issued, in the first week of assuming the position late last year, a decision to cancel all the previous government’s procedures during the caretaker period, which included canceling the appointment of governors and special grades.
The State of Law coalition had expected that if the decision was implemented literally and others were changed after the provincial councils stopped for more than 3 years, it would get between 4 to 6 local administrations.
A month ago, Al-Maliki announced that the prime minister had decided to replace the governors during the next two or three months, before Al-Sudani announced at the end of last year that he would set a timetable for evaluating those positions.
And in what seemed to be an affirmation of Al-Maliki’s demands, Al-Sudani reviewed yesterday his government program, foremost of which was the abolition of the caretaker government’s decisions.
This came according to a statement by the State Administration Coalition, which includes all major political forces except for the Sadrist movement, which held its meeting No. 7 the day before yesterday at the house of the head of the Azm Alliance, Muthanna al-Samarrai.
The meeting witnessed the absence of Nuri al-Maliki, Qais al-Khazali (leader of the League), Muhammad al-Halbousi, and Faleh al-Fayyad (chief of the crowd).
According to information received by Al-Mada, the four leaders “boycotted the meeting because of differences between them on the one hand and with the prime minister on the other.”
The statement of the meeting revealed the emphasis on “urging the competent authorities to implement death sentences in cases that have been decided and gained a final degree,” which may be behind the differences with some Sunni forces.
The Speaker of Parliament had warned last year that the current year 2023 would be decisive for the political commitments upon which the government was formed.
Earlier, Sunni parties had confirmed to (Al-Mada) that talking about “executions seems like a pre-emptive action in the event that the general amnesty law demanded by the Sunnis is issued.”
Last week, the coordination framework, in the last meeting of the Shiite alliance, demanded that the President of the Republic sign the death sentences.
Relationship with the United States and the profile of private degrees
As for the Shiite faction, the latest disagreements emerged over the dismissal of the head of the media network, and the appointment of a figure close to the factions and the rule of law, before the Sudanese intervened to restore the first.
On the other hand, Ali al-Ghanimi, a member of the political bureau of the Euphrates Movement, which is led by the prime minister, says: “Some of the provisions of the political agreement, when the prime minister comes to implement them, cause disagreements or falter.”
Al-Ghanimi indicated in an interview with (Al-Mada) that disagreements within the coordination framework or the State Administration Coalition “are something that always happens in politics and governance,” noting that “most of the disagreements are about the relationship with the United States.”
Al-Ghanimi, a former deputy, explained that: “Some political parties – he did not name them – have reservations about the relationship with Washington because of the airport incident, but there is no one calling for a complete break with the United States.”
Regarding special grades, the leader of the Sudanese party revealed that “some parties believe that they did not get their full entitlement from the distribution of ministries, so they want to obtain other positions.”
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