Speaker of Baghdad Provincial Council selected

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) – The members of the Baghdad Provincial Council convened a meeting at 8:00 p.m. on Monday. 

Out of the 53 members, 44 were present. However, the Progress Party, led by Mohamed al-Halbousi, boycotted the session.

Ammar Qaisi, a member of the Azem Alliance led by Musanna al-Samarai, was elected as speaker of the council with 39 votes.

The Provincial Council is made up of 49 seats, with the final four seats specifically reserved for the Feyli and Christian communities.

Over 16 million Iraqis across 15 provinces were eligible to participate in the 2023 provincial elections. The election was the first of its kind in a decade. The last provincial election was held on April 20, 2013. In the case of Kirkuk, the oil-rich province conducted its last provincial election in 2005.

A few million voters were not able to vote as they had not renewed their voter registration card which made them eligible to vote in the election.

Thousands of candidates, as part of 68 parties, coalitions, and alliances, are vying for 275 seats at the provincial councils with an additional 10 more seats for minorities.

The United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI) has not monitored the elections due to the Iraqi Government’s objections.

 Editing by Dastan Muwaffaq