Baghdad Provincial Council accepts governor’s resignation

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Baghdad Provincial Council has accepted the resignation of Governor Falah al-Gazairy, a councilman told Rudaw on Sunday, amid protests that have gripped Iraq’s capital and its southern cities.

Baghdad’s Provincial Council convened on Sunday to discuss Gazairy’s resignation.

Mohammed al-Robeiyi, deputy head of Baghdad Provincial Council’s security committee told Rudaw on Sunday that Gazairy had presented his resignation at an earlier date – one Robeiyi did not specify - which the council today accepted. 

Gazairy had said his resignation was “due to health reasons,” the security committee official quoted the former governor’s resignation letter as stating.

However, Robeiyi, a member of the opposition Hikmah Movement, expressed doubt in Gazairy’s reason, instead attributing his resignation to an incapability to enact improvements in Baghdad’s services. 

“In reality, he has had problems and has not been able to implement plans or finish projects for the province,” al-Robeiyi said.

Gazairy, a member of former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition, was governor for less than a year.

Elected for the role by the Provincial Council in December 2018, he was formally appointed to the role by decree of Iraq’s president on February 28 of this year.

Governorship of the capital has long traded hands between the camps of Muqtada al-Sadr and Nouri al-Maliki – in which time little progress has been made to Baghdad’s services. 

It is this lack of services, as well as corruption and high levels of unemployment, that has pushed young Iraqis to take demands for change to the streets.

Protests in Baghdad and Iraq’s southern cities, now in their sixth day, have been subject to violent response by security forces, including the use of live ammunition, tear gas and water cannons.  Latest figures from the Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights (IHCHR) put the protester death toll at 99, with close to 4,000 injured.

Protests that had reportedly slowed down due to promises of government reform re-emerged in Baghdad’s ramshackle Sadr City on Sunday. 

It is unclear if the governor’s resignation is linked to his cautious support of protesters in a statement on October 2, the day after protests began.

“Demonstration is a right for every Iraqi guaranteed by the constitution, and we back the legitimate demands of the protesters," Gazairy said.

However, the former governor stressed "the importance of preserving the peaceful nature of the protests and not damaging public property or state facilities."

A date has yet to be set for council elections to find Gazairy’s replacement, but prospective nominees are to nominate themselves for election by October 10, Robeiyi said. 

The new governor may well be replaced on April 1, 2020, when Iraq is slated to hold its nationwide provincial council elections.