ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - The newly-elected Salahaddin provincial council on Sunday appointed as its new governor Ahmed al-Jubouri, a controversial Sunni politician who had filled the role from 2013 to 2014.
Jubouri’s Jamahir party received the highest number of votes during December’s provincial council elections, obtaining four spots on the 15-seat council.
In his first remarks to reporters following his appointment, Jubouri, widely known as Abu Mazin, said his agenda as governor will focus on “efficiency and integrity.”
“Everything that is not clean or is blackmailed will not be accepted, just as we do not accept that any old faces remain that were in the governor’s office and mistreated others,” he said.
Born in 1968 in the city of Baiji, Jubouri was first appointed governor of Salahaddin following the 2013 provincial council elections. He resigned from the post in August 2014, after he was elected to the Iraqi parliament, a role he has remained in to the present day.
In 2014, he was named Minister of State for Provincial Affairs during the tenure of former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, but the position was eliminated from the cabinet following anti-corruption protests.
Jubouri has been accused of multiple counts of corruption throughout his career and was twice convicted of car theft, in 1985 and 1992. He served three years in prison from 1992 to 1995 before receiving a pardon.
Following his removal from the ministerial post in 2015, the Iraqi integrity commission revealed that a flight ban had been imposed on him.
He has been repeatedly accused of receiving bribes in return for hiring individuals to fill top provincial and ministerial positions. In June 2023, he denied the allegations of bribery, describing them as “political targeting.”
Jubouri’s Jamahir party received the highest number of votes during December’s provincial council elections, obtaining four spots on the 15-seat council.
In his first remarks to reporters following his appointment, Jubouri, widely known as Abu Mazin, said his agenda as governor will focus on “efficiency and integrity.”
“Everything that is not clean or is blackmailed will not be accepted, just as we do not accept that any old faces remain that were in the governor’s office and mistreated others,” he said.
Born in 1968 in the city of Baiji, Jubouri was first appointed governor of Salahaddin following the 2013 provincial council elections. He resigned from the post in August 2014, after he was elected to the Iraqi parliament, a role he has remained in to the present day.
In 2014, he was named Minister of State for Provincial Affairs during the tenure of former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, but the position was eliminated from the cabinet following anti-corruption protests.
Jubouri has been accused of multiple counts of corruption throughout his career and was twice convicted of car theft, in 1985 and 1992. He served three years in prison from 1992 to 1995 before receiving a pardon.
Following his removal from the ministerial post in 2015, the Iraqi integrity commission revealed that a flight ban had been imposed on him.
He has been repeatedly accused of receiving bribes in return for hiring individuals to fill top provincial and ministerial positions. In June 2023, he denied the allegations of bribery, describing them as “political targeting.”
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