PROVINCIAL GOVT STRUGGLES FOR POWER, BUDGET

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000063 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS BAGHDAD FOR POL, NCT E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV EAID PINR IZ SUBJECT: PROVINCIAL GOVT STRUGGLES FOR POWER, BUDGET KIRKUK 00000063 001.2 OF 002 ¶1. (U) Summary. Sulaymaniyah provincial leaders stressed the need for the Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) to grant them legal authority and practical power to carry out projects. Provincial Governor Dana Ahmad Majid requested U.S. technical assistance for urban planning and taking a census of the population, stating it was requisite for economic growth and countering the Islamic parties in the region. End Summary. ¶2. (U) On March 13 Regional Coordinator and IPAO visited Sulaymaniyah Provincial Governor Dana Ahmad Majid and members of the Provincial Council (PC) to discuss governance issues. Provincial Councils - Elected Without Powers -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Governor Dana said that the Sulaymaniyah Provincial Council was handicapped by the dispute between the regional and provincial governments over how much CPA Order 71 should govern it. Order 71 created provincial councils in Iraq, and Sulaymaniyah held PC elections under it; however, the order also exempted the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and granted it authority over local government in the region. ¶4. (SBU) Dana claimed that the KRG exploited the exception and constricted the provincial council's influence by denying it both a budget and a legal basis for the administration of the province. Without the authority to function, the provincial governments were left with Article 53, a law enacted under Saddam Hussayn, for legal guidance. Article 53 does not provide for the existence of provincial councils. ¶5. (SBU) Dana said the provincial councils of Sulaymaniyah, Erbil, and Dahuk, had formed a Tripartite Committee to seek a clear delineation of their powers. Dana said the KNA's Legal Committee had discussed a proposal the Tripartite Committee had drafted to resolve the issue, but the entire KRG was on hold, awaiting certainty on whether the current power-sharing bargain between Iraq President Talabani and Kurdistan Regional Government President Barzani would continue. If Talabani failed to secure a second term as President, no one knew who would take which KRG posts. Moreover, Dana asked how the KNA could deal with provincial matters when there still was no national government. Budget Insufficient to Run Government, Basic Services -------------- -------------- ¶6. (SBU) According to Council Member Anwar Faraj, at the heart of the power struggle is the budget. Dana said the budget granted no control to the PC because the KRG continued to distribute funds through the governor, who then allotted funds to the Provincial Council. Moreover, the budget was too small either to sustain a PC or meet the needs of the province. The governor said the the KRG had granted a budget barely enough to run the electricity generators for a month. Faraj added that the distribution of the funds was further complicated by there being two KRG's, each with its own ministry of finance. ¶7. (SBU) Council members disagreed over how much control the PC should have over the budget. Deputy Chair Kawa Abdullah Ali said the PC should control the budget and governor merely implement it. Some PC members thought the national ministry of finance should sign contracts, others thought the PC should control this. Assistance Requests for Planning and Census -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Dana said Sulaymaniyah needed technical assistance from the U.S. to create a long term plan for development. A new population census was important to determine unemployment and other economic factors. He said that, even as the governor of the province, he did not know whether the economy was based on industry, agriculture, trade, or tourism. Saddam's regime had done the last census and Dana doubted its accuracy. ¶9. (U) Dana also highlighted the need for technical assistance in urban planning, particularly in regards to creating a master municipal plan, transportation, hospitals, schools, and parks. Dana felt the Provincial Council could not resolve these issues without assistance. Provincial Council Structure and Committees -------------- KIRKUK 00000063 002.2 OF 002 ¶10. (U) Kawa Abdullah Ali said that in accordance with CPA Order 71, the citizens of Sulaymaniyah had elected the Provincial Council. In turn, the council had elected a Chairman and a Deputy Chairman and formed 13 committees, including: economy, environment, reconstruction, religion, legal, transportation, and women's affairs, among others. The council has 41 members from 4 different political parties including the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kurdistan Democratic Party, Kurdistan Islamic Union, and Kurdistan Islamic Gathering; it has 13 female members. According to Dana, the Sulaymaniyah Provincial Council was the first to function in Iraq. ¶11. (U) Council members shared some program successes thus far: - The Economic Committee was developing a plan for the market that included: determining the daily price of goods, especially food, establishing product expiry and controlling market fluctuation. - The Transportation and Legal Committees had presented a plan establishing a requirement for drivers to obtain licenses. - The Legal Committee had established a Claims Department as a mechanism for individuals to file claims and seek reparation. - The Women's Rights Committee had prepared a proposal that included 10 projects, including one aimed at educating women about democracy. ¶12. (U) Council Members asked the U.S., through the new RegionalReconstruction Team (RRT) in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, to assist them in obtaining funding from donor countries to help build the infrastructure of the Kurdish region. They also asked for technical training, expressing gratitude for assistance received through RTI training courses. Council Members highlighted their challenges: - The concept of decentralization, as it related to the political system, was difficult for people to understand, particularly when the government faced technical problems inhibiting its implementation. Sometimes the public blamed decentralization for their problems because they misunderstood it. - Sulaymaniyah planned to move to a free market system; however, the public did not understand the principles and laws that governed a free market economy. Further, Iraq's economy - and therefore the Kurdish region's economy - was too easily influenced by the instability of Iraq's neighbors. - Technical assistance in planning and a census were needed to equalize development in Sulaymaniyah on a more scientific basis. - The use of chemical weapons by Saddam Husayn's regime continued to affect on environment and public health in Halabjah. - The Reconstruction Committee said the real need was to raise the living standards in the cities. However, city and district councils had not been elected. There was one municipal head in each district, but there should be one representative from each district and sub-district. There was no deadline for this and the legal committee was following the issue. ¶13. (U) Council members attending included: Deputy Chair Kawa Abdullah Ali, Patriotic United Kurdistan (PUK); Council Member Ahmad Hama Rashid, Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG),Economic Committee; Council Member Anwar Faraj, KIG, Religious Affair Committee; Council Member Soz Abdulqadi Abdulrahman, PUK, Women's Rights Committee; and Council Member Kazhal Ali, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP),Environment Committee. ¶14. (U) Bio Note: Governor Dana speaks and understands some English. Comment -------------- ¶15. (SBU) The provincial government seems eager and internally organized, but lacks power to make things happen, particularly on spending. We suspect that clarity over the distribution of power between the regional and provincial government will have to await agreement between powerful politicos in the PUK and between the PUK and KDP. ORESTE