Dissolving provincial councils is a consecration of new dictatorships, NGO says

Shafaq News / Al-Nour Foundation, a civil society institution in Diyala and other governorates, considered dissolving provincial councils a consecration of new dictatorships that some conservatives may exercise in dominating budgets and resources.

The director of the foundation, Ahmed Jassam, told Shafaq News agency that the best solution is to reduce the provincial councils in proportion to the needs of the provinces, in light of transferring the Ministries' powers to the governorates. 

Jassam said that the abolition of the provincial councils gives the governors the powers of a Prime Minister, which puts the fate of the governorates in the hands of a certain group of people, noting that 70% of corruption files are concentrated in the provincial bureau and the budgets of regional development, according to semi-official statistics.

He pointed out, "canceling the provincial councils ends their supervisory role, and allows the corrupt to dominate the governorate's rights", calling for, "adopting visions that help develop and evaluate the performance and role of provincial councils."

It is noteworthy that several parliamentary blocs and representatives called for the reinstatement of the provincial councils and described the council of Representatives' decision to dissolve them as unsuccessful.

In light of the popular demonstrations that Iraq witnessed in October of 2019, the Iraqi Parliament voted in favor of a legal amendment ending the work of the provincial councils that are not organized in a region, the district councils and their current sub-districts, and assigned members of Parliament the task of monitoring the each Governor's work.