BASRA EXECUTIVES ELECTED ACCORDING TO MALIKI'S PLAN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BASRAH 000019 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 4/21/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM IZ SUBJECT: BASRA EXECUTIVES ELECTED ACCORDING TO MALIKI'S PLAN REF: A) BASRAH 0013; B) BAGHDAD 000709 BASRAH 00000019 001.2 OF 002 CLASSIFIED BY: Ramon A. Negron, Director, Regional Embassy Office Basrah, Department of State. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) Summary: The Basra Provincial Council (PC) elected new leadership on the evening of April 15. Although disagreements within the State of Law coalition over its gubernatorial nominee prevented an agreement during the PC's opening session, coalition members eventually agreed to follow a nomination plan conceived by the coalition at the national level. The plan called for a governor from Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki's own Da'wa party as well as allocating the PC Chairman and Deputy Governor positions to the remaining State of Law member-parties. The plan also notably reserved executive positions for the "Shahid al-Mihrab" coalition and the unpopular Sadrists. End summary. ¶2. (C) After heated arguments within State of Law, coalition member-parties reached a consensus and nominated Dr. Chiltag Abud Sharad for governor, who unanimously won the PC vote. Dr. Chiltag's nomination followed a formula devised by a coalition committee in Baghdad and blessed by PM Maliki. REO contacts report that the formula called for the three most influential positions to be reserved for members of the State of Law coalition, divided among its three member-parties. According to the plan, the Governor was to come from PM Maliki's Da'wa party, the 1st Deputy Governor from the "Independents" (Safaa Deen Al-Saffi's party),and the PC Chairman from Al-Dawa Iraq Organization. The inclusive plan also set aside the Deputy PC Chairman position for the "Shahid al-Mihrab" coalition (the second largest entity on the PC) and notably saved the 2nd Deputy Governor for the unpopular Sadrists, who hold just two of the PC's 35 seats. ¶3. (C) There was disagreement over the coalition's pick for governor almost immediately after the January provincial elections (reftel A),prompting national intervention to prevent member-party defections. Not all coalition members welcomed direction from the coalition's national office, however. During an April 13 meeting, State-of-Law PC member Dhya'a Jafar said the national plan infuriated certain coalition members. According to Jafar, Da'wa Iraq Organization's Branch Chief Hashim Abu Aqeel rejected the coalition's proposal about 48 hours before the first session of the PC, insisting the gubernatorial nominee come from his own party, which holds the majority of the coalition's seats on the PC. After subsequent discussions, which are rumored to have involved PM Maliki, Al-Dawa Iraq Organization acquiesced. ¶4. (C) Given State of Law's outright majority on the PC, its plan was a virtual fait-accompli once all its PC members had agreed to it. On April 16, Sheikh Amir Al-Fayez (Justice and Unity Gathering) told the REO that during the second session of the PC a State of Law representative simply informed PC members of the coalition's formula for filling the five positions prior to the vote. According to Al-Fayez, the coalition said it was not concerned with individual candidates, so long as a member of the designated party filled each position. ¶5. (C) The session went as planned, with the PC electing State of Law's Jabar Amin (Da'wa Iraq Organization) and Nazir Rabi Al-Jabri ("Independents") as PC Chairman and 1st Deputy Governor, and Ahmed Thjel Al-Sulayti of Shahid al-Mihrab as Deputy PC Chairman. Difficulty arose, however, in finding a suitable Sadrist candidate for 2nd Deputy Governor. Acknowledging their unpopularity, the two Al-Ahrar members on the Provincial Council nominated a non-PC member, Dr. Ahmad Hameed Hasan, for the position. Although only associated with the Sadrists, Dr. Ahmad still failed to secure the number of votes required. PC member Ali Hassan Ali Ya'ub (Iraqi Islamic Party) recounted events to the REO the next day, stating that "Al-Ahrar" PC member Hussein Al-Hussein became belligerent as a result and accused PC members of denying Dr. Ahmad the position because of his affiliation with the Sadrist movement. Ya'ub explained that Hussein then took the issue into his own hands, conducting a second vote with himself as a candidate against Dr. Ahmad. The PC chose Dr. Ahmad and Hussein declared him the winner. State of Law coalition members reportedly complained to Baghdad about the unorthodox method used to select the 2nd Deputy Governor but were told to "let it go." ¶6. (C) Comment: The State of Law coalition in Basra clearly benefits from the direction provided by its national office under PM Maliki. The Basra coalition owes its election success to Maliki's local popularity and it is likely that Maliki himself prevented the coalition in Basra from self-destructing over the issue of governor. The decision to include both Shahid al-Mihrab and Al-Ahrar in the province's executive positions is a good omen and will likely encourage cooperation among majority BASRAH 00000019 002.2 OF 002 and opposition PC members. State of Law's decision to include the Al-Ahrar Independent Trend in the province's senior levels of government mirrors PM Maliki's efforts to reconcile differences with the Sadrists. (See reftel B.) Under normal circumstances, the nomination for 2nd Deputy Governor would have gone to any party other than Al-Ahrar, most likely to "Justice and Unity Gathering" headed by the popular Sheikh Amir Al-Fayez. End comment. NEGRON