Shafaq News- Babil

Calls for calm and restraint emerged in Iraq’s Babil on Wednesday as political tensions rose over the provincial council’s recent decision to elect Ali Turki Al-Jamali as Babil’s new governor.

In a statement, former lawmaker and gubernatorial candidate Amir Al-Maamouri urged Babil residents to avoid escalation, describing the current moment as sensitive and requiring the highest levels of awareness.

Arguing that political differences do not justify being drawn into calls for tension or conflict, he added that Babil “is greater than individuals and positions, and too important to be dragged into strife that does not serve stability.”

On Tuesday, Babil’s Provincial Council elected Al-Jamali as governor, a former lawmaker from the Sadiqoon bloc led by Qais Al-Khazaali, replacing Adnan Fayhan of the same bloc, who has assumed the post of first deputy speaker of parliament.

The decision followed large demonstrations in Babil, with dozens of residents calling for the appointment of Al-Maamouri as governor and rejecting party-based power-sharing and centralized decision-making. Protesters argued that the governor should be chosen from within the province based on competence and integrity, insisting that Babil be granted the right to manage its affairs in line with the will of its people.