Muthanna governor secures court order blocking his removal after council votes him out

BAGHDAD — Muthanna Governor Muhannad al-Atabi said Wednesday he obtained a court order suspending decisions by the Muthanna Governorate Council to accept his resignation and elect a replacement, denying he had ever submitted one.

“We obtained today a court order to suspend the implementation of the Muthanna Governorate Council’s decisions regarding the acceptance of our alleged resignation as well as the suspension of the decision to elect another governor,” al-Atabi said.

The council voted Tuesday to accept the resignation and opened nominations for the post, later electing Ahmed Menfi with eight votes. Candidate Tawfiq Aboud received two votes and Karrar Saleh Ghawi received none.

Al-Atabi said he “did not send any resignation,” adding that there had been “talk in political rooms” but no formal submission. He questioned the legitimacy of the entire process. “Who submitted the resignation? Where is the resignation in the first place?” he said. “It is regrettable that I saw the resignation on Facebook.”

He described the council session as “a blatant coup against constitutional and legal frameworks” and said it was invalid because “the subject of the session was interrogation, not resignation.” He also criticized the security presence at the council building, warning against the “militarization” of the legislative institution.

Al-Atabi said he would pursue criminal and civil cases after securing the court order, and suggested the circulated resignation document “may be from the archive with the aim of destabilization.”

Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, head of the State of Law Coalition, said the governor’s post is an entitlement of his coalition under Coordination Framework agreements, and that any replacement should come from within the same alliance.