Shafaq News / The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, held a closed meeting in the city of Ramadi with the dignitaries of Nineveh and Al-Anbar governorates, to establish the expected "Sunni region", according to a source familiar with the matter.

The source revealed to Shafaq News Agency, "Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi held a meeting today at the headquarters of the Progress Party, north of Ramadi, the center of Al-Anbar Governorate, with several Nineveh governorate dignitaries," indicating, "members of  Al-Anbar local government and the Iraqi Parliament attended the meeting as well."

The source, who chose to remain anonymous, explained that Haybat Al-Halbousi, Adel Al-Mahlawi, and Yahya Al-Muhammadi were among those who attended the meeting, in addition to sheikhs and dignitaries of the governorate and directors of the offices of the Progress Party in Al-Anbar," noting, "the meeting was closed. No one was allowed to enter."

According to the source, "Al-Halbousi seeks to win the governorates of Nineveh and Saladin to obtain the largest possible number of seats during the upcoming elections. Winning these governorates will allow the regionalization that Al-Halbousi seeks."

For his part, an expert on Iraqi political affairs and a professor at the University of Mosul, Ahmad al-Hamdani, considered today, Sunday, the movements of al-Halbousi outside his main stronghold in Al-Anbar towards Nineveh and Saladin has annoyed his opponents and even his political partners, as he aims to take over some of their voters.

Al-Hamdani added that Al-Halbousi had targeted social and academic figures and new faces in the recent period in Nineveh and Saladin, indicating that this may bother the former speaker of the parliament, MP of Nineveh Osama al-Nujaifi or MP of Saladin Abdullah al-Jubouri particularly."

Al-Hamdani explained, "Al-Halbousi's latest move is an electoral move, and it is based on his successful experience in Al-Anbar, which he uses as evidence of the fidelity of his policy since his assumption to the presidency of Parliament."

Partisan and popular forces in Al-Anbar Governorate and other governorates are characterized by a majority of Sunnis seeking to establish a region within federal Iraq, aiming to reduce central control over them' capabilities.

Sheikhs from Al-Anbar governorate refused to name their region, which would be formed later, as "the Sunni region" to eliminate sectarianism and emphasized that the new region includes all components and sects under the unified Iraqi identity.

The Iraqi constitution states, "every governorate or more has the right to form a region based on a request for a referendum on it."

Political and parliamentary circles talk on several occasions about early signs of declaring a "Sunni region" in Iraq against the background of security incidents, sectarian conflicts, and the state's inability to control the illegal arms in several governorates.

A Sunni MP revealed to Shafaq News Agency on October 20, 2020, that what Al-Anbar is witnessing of an enormous and unprecedented reconstruction revolution in Iraq is the result of a plan to render the governorate the capital of the Sunni region to be formed next year.