Shafaq News – Basra (Updated at 16:17)
The Basra Provincial Council on Tuesday began collecting signatures
to transform the oil-rich province into a federal region under Iraq’s
constitutional framework.
According to a document obtained by Shafaq News, Deputy Council
Chairman Osama Abdul-Ridha Al-Saad submitted a formal request calling on the
council to reaffirm its previous decisions on the proposal and urging the Iraqi
government to refer the file to the Independent High Electoral Commission
(IHEC) to initiate the required legal procedures.
The document cites constitutional provisions and the Law on
Executive Procedures for the Formation of Regions No. 13 of 2008 as the legal
basis for the move, and includes a list of signatures from council members,
with participation by Governor Asaad Al-Eidani. It also authorizes the council
chairman to assign the legal department to pursue any related judicial steps,
with the option of engaging external legal offices if necessary.
Speaking with Shafaq News, Aqeel Al-Furaiji, head of the Tasmim bloc in the Basra Council, stressed
that members are determined to finalize the process through approved frameworks
and with broad participation, adding that the issue is expected to be resolved
in the near term.
He described the proposed Basra region as a long-standing
aspiration for residents, arguing that regional status would enable the
province to fully exercise its constitutional rights, independently manage
development and reconstruction, and advance what he termed “social justice,”
free from external control over its resources.
Read more: Basra activates legal process to pursue regional
status
Basra, home to about 3.5 million people according to government
data, is overwhelmingly Shiite Arab, with Sunni Arab, Christian, Mandaean, and
small Kurdish communities. The province holds 25 seats in Iraq’s parliament,
including six reserved for women. In the most recent parliamentary elections,
voter turnout reached 51.10 percent, with the Tasmim Alliance, led by Al-Eidani,
emerging as the leading force after securing six seats.
Calls to form federal regions have periodically resurfaced in Iraq
since 2003, though none have materialized beyond the Kurdistan Region, Iraq’s
only federal region to date. In Basra, the issue has regained prominence amid
complaints over weak public services, stalled development projects, and what
residents describe as insufficient authority and funding to address local
needs.