Shafaq News– Babil

Supporters of the Sadiqoon Movement, led by Qais Al-Khazali, staged a mass demonstration in Iraq’s Babil province on Monday, urging the provincial council to proceed with selecting a new governor, according to Shafaq News correspondent.

The correspondent reported that demonstrators voiced support for the bloc’s nominee, Ali Turki Al-Jamali, calling on council members across political affiliations to convene without further delay to approve the nomination.

Protesters described their demand as an electoral entitlement, citing both the bloc’s performance and political understandings reached in Baghdad within the Coordination Framework, a predominantly Shiite alliance that holds the largest bloc in parliament.

The rally followed a failed council session on Saturday, when members were unable to reach the legal quorum required to select a governor, prompting the session’s postponement to a later date, according to sources familiar with the proceedings. In response, the Sadiqoon Movement —affiliated with former Babil governor Adnan Fayhan, recently elected first deputy speaker of parliament— accused rival political forces of deliberately obstructing the session to block its candidate from advancing.

A protest took place on Tuesday, with dozens of residents calling for the appointment of former lawmaker Amir Al-Maamouri and rejecting what they described as party quotas and centralized political influence. Provincial council member Mohammed Al-Mansouri told Shafaq News that the council now faces a clear choice: respond to demands expressed on the street or adhere to directions from political bloc leaders in Baghdad, whom he said continue to favor quota-based allocations.