Political leaders reach compromise on governor in Diwaniyah, Diyala

Shafaq News/ A political source on Tuesday revealed the behind-the-scenes details of a meeting held between the leader of the State of Law bloc, Nouri al-Maliki, and the leader of the Badr Organization, Hadi al-Amiri, on Monday. The source informed Shafaq News Agency that “the disagreement between al-Maliki and al-Amiri over the governor candidates of Al-Diwaniyah and Diyala persisted until last night, but a meeting was convened between the two parties in the presence of the leader of the Al-Basha’ir Movement, Yaser Sakheel, and the governor of Al-Diwaniyah, Abbas al-Zamili, along with other figures.” The source added, “Al-Maliki objected to the appointment of a Badr Organization member as the governor of Al-Diwaniyah. However, the meeting resulted in resolving the disputes between al-Maliki and al-Amiri, with the approval for al-Zamili’s appointment as the governor of Diwaniyah and compensating the State of Law Coalition with the governorship of Diyala.” “The decision was made because it would be difficult to reassign the governor of Al-Diwaniyah to the State of Law Coalition after al-Zamili had taken the oath, a presidential decree had been issued, and he had resigned from parliament.” “Further meetings will be held in the coming days to discuss the issue of the local government in Diyala and to find necessary solutions, especially with the insistence of the two factions in the Diyala Council on their respective candidates.” In a related development, a political source on Thursday, March 7, revealed a political dispute over the nomination of the State of Law Coalition’s candidate for the position of governor of Diyala, Waddah al-Tamimi. The source pointed out that “the provincial council remains divided into two teams, the first consisting of 8 members who oppose his nomination, and the second consisting of 7 members in favor of al-Tamimi assuming the position,” adding that “ongoing discussions are being held by both teams to gather nine votes and convene a session to elect the council president and the governor.”