The acting governor of Kirkuk, asked the Joint Operations Command in Kirkuk to provide the necessary protection for a demonstration scheduled to take place next Friday, January 7, to demand the acting governor to remain in the position of governor.
The letter issued by the Kirkuk governor's office on Tuesday, January 4, addressed to the Joint Operations Command stated, "Based on the request of the people of the province, we ask to take the necessary measures to provide security for a peaceful demonstration on Friday, January 7 in front of the old governorate building."
Ali al-Jibouri, an activist from the Arab community in Hawija district, and one of the organizers of the demonstration, told (KirkukNow), "On Friday, we will take to the streets as one of our legitimate rights and demand that Rakan Saeed al-Jibouri to remain in the position of governor. We invite people of other ethnicities also to participate alongside Arab component.”
"I think that all nationalities testify that Rakan Saeed served the governorate without discrimination and implemented dozens of service projects, roads and investment projects in cities and villages, and succeeded in his position."
The demand for the governor to remain in his position comes at a time when the first session of the new Iraqi parliament is scheduled to be held on January 9, in which Rakan Saeed secured a seat out of 12 seats for Kirkuk province.
Article 46 of the Elections Law states that “the winning candidate in the parliamentary elections is obligated to take the constitutional oath within a maximum period of 30 days from the date of the first session, otherwise the candidate who gets the highest votes from the loser candidates of the same list in his electoral district will be the alternative.”
But the Federal Court decided on November 14, 2021 to change that article to be in this form, “The winning candidate in the parliamentary elections is obligated to take the constitutional oath within a maximum period of one month from the date of the first session. In the event that the oath is not taken by the winner, the substitute for him shall be the highest loser in his electoral district.”
Kirkuk, October 10, 2021: Rakan al-Jibouri, governor of Kirkuk and candidate of the Arab coalition in Kirkuk, casting his vote in the parliamentary elections. Al-Jibouri’s personal Facebook account.
In this case, if al-Jibouri, the winning candidate for the Arab coalition in the third electoral district in Kirkuk, does not take the constitutional oath, his replacement will be the losing candidate with the highest votes in that district, and Wasfi al-Asi from the United Arab Front UAF.
But before the article was amended, his seat would have gone to his brother, Sahmi Saeed Al-Jibouri, who collected only 87 votes for his same list and in the same constituency.
Rakan Saeed al-Jibouri had assumed the position of acting governor of Kirkuk in October 2017, by a decision of former Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, instead of Najmaddin Karim, who was dismissed from his position in September of the same year by a decision of the Iraqi parliament.
