30 days until local government is formed
Kirkuk provincial council holds first formal session
KIRKUK – Members of the Kirkuk Provincial Council convened for the first time since the provincial elections last December, marking a significant step toward forming the local government. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani called the meeting on Tuesday after months of political stalemate among the governorate’s political groups.
All 16 council members attended the session, which started four hours late due to disagreements and absences. The meeting lasted less than half an hour and was presided over by Rakan Al-Jabouri, the oldest member of the council.
Jabouri, who has served as acting governor since 2017 when then-governor Najmaldin Karim was dismissed by the Iraqi parliament for supporting the Kurdish independence referendum that included Kirkuk, relinquished his gubernatorial powers and was sworn in as a council member on Wednesday.
The council now has 30 days to elect a new governor and appoint other senior positions, including the council head and mayors across the governorate. The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, which won five out of 16 council seats, insists the governor should be from their party. The Kurdistan Democratic Party, holding two seats, advocates for an independent Kurdish governor.
Arab and Turkmen groups in the governorate support a rotation of the governor position among the three major ethnic groups: Kurds, Arabs, and Turkmen.
Kirkuk, an ethnically diverse and resource-rich governorate, is part of Iraq’s “disputed territories.” Article 140 of the Iraqi Constitution mandates a referendum to decide whether Kirkuk should be administered by the Kurdistan Regional Government or the Iraqi federal government. Baghdad has yet to hold this referendum.
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