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

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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