Baghdad Governor race: Al-Sudani's pick faces Al-Maliki's

Shafaq News – Baghdad

The Baghdad Provincial Council is set to hold a special session on Sunday to elect a new governor, a political source told Shafaq News.

The vote, according to the source, has intensified a growing rivalry between two major political blocs: Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s Development and Reconstruction Coalition and the State of Law coalition (SLC), led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.

SLC has nominated Atwan al-Atwani, the Head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, while al-Sudani’s bloc is backing Dhulfiqar Thamer al-Fayyadh, a serving member of the Provincial Council.

The vote follows the official retirement of the current governor, Abdul-Muttalib Al-Alawi, whose departure was approved by Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid on Saturday.

This marks the second time Al-Alawi has been removed from office in less than a month. On July 3, the Council previously voted to dismiss him and briefly appointed Haidar Mohan as governor.