Baghdad's longest-serving governor may have finally met his match —a retirement form

Shafaq News- Baghdad

A member of Iraq's parliament demanded Monday that Baghdad's governor be forcibly retired, accusing him of clinging to office in violation of a retirement law that applies to every state employee in the country without exception.

Thair al-Kaabi, representing the National Approach bloc (Al-Nahj Al-Watani), told a press conference that Governor Atwan al-Atwani has passed the legally mandated retirement age and that his continued tenure is "an open breach" of Retirement Law No. 9 of 2014. The law, al-Kaabi said, covers all civil servants, and the governor —as the highest executive official in his administrative unit— is not exempt. “There is no legal basis for the exception, and no justification for the delay.”

Al-Atwani is a senior figure in the State of Law Coalition (SLC), led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He previously served as Baghdad’s governor in 2017 and returned to the post after the retirement of former governor Abdul-Muttalib al-Alawi, who is also affiliated with the coalition.

Baghdad, home to nearly a quarter of Iraq's population and the seat of federal power, is among the most politically consequential governorships in the country.

Al-Kaabi warned that allowing the situation to continue risks eroding public confidence in state institutions and creating a precedent that the law bends for those with the right political backing, which strikes at the principle of equal treatment under the law. "Respecting and applying the law fairly," he said, "is the foundation of a state of institutions."