Representatives of the Daquq demonstrators and the Kirkuk administration agreed that the new commissioner of Daquq will work in the Kirkuk governer office and will not go to the commissioner's office for 15 days until a new commissioner is appointed.
The Iraqi Council of Ministers has issued an administrative decision to appoint Abdulstar Ali Mahmoud as the commissioner of Daquq district, 44 kilometers south of Kirkuk northern, oil-rich city.
The appointment of Abdulstar Ali as the new commissioner of Daquq district has caused protests among some citizens, especially Kurds and Turkmen, especially after the new commissioner worked for an hour in the commissioner's office building on Sunday, February 5th, 2023.
On Monday, February 6, representatives of the people of Daquq met with Rakan Saeed Al-Jiburi, the acting governor of Kirkuk and the commander of joint operations in Kirkuk about the appointment of the new commissioner.
Representatives of the demonstrators, in a press conference attended by KirkukNow reporter, stressed that they have agreed that the new commissioner will not come to the commissioner's building and work in the governors building in Kirkuk for two weeks.
"You have proved that Daquq is only for its people and has its owners... Your vote led to the achievement of our rights. rights are taken away, they are not given," a representative of the demonstrators told the demonstrators.
"The governor said to go and appoint someone whom the political factions, personalities and the people of Daquq agree on and name him by agreement, and he will raise it to Baghdad."
Representative of Daquq protestors briefs them about meeting with Kirkuk acting governor. KirkukNow
This is the second time that the people of Daquq reject the appointment of a new commissioner for their district and insist that he must be from the district and have the consent of the people. The demonstrators then gathered their tents in front of the commissioner's office building.
Al-Jiburi has assigned, according to a letter issued on January 19, 2023, Saadoun Hayadi Majed, the legal advisor at the Kirkuk local administration office, to manage the affairs of Daquq district commissioner, instead of Louis Fendi Muhammad, who will be retired due to his age.
He indicated that he issued the decision based on the third paragraph of Article 39 of the Provincial Law No. 21 of 2008, for the "public interest," as stressed in the decision.
According to the provisions of article 39, the governor issues an administrative order to appoint commissioner (mayor) for districts and sub-districts, and they are subject to his direction and supervision. However, according to the law that KirkukNow has reviewed, there is no reference to the power of the governor to assign a person to run the duties of the commissioner.
The northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, located 238 kilometers north of Baghdad, is an ethnically mixed province for 1.7 million Kurds, Sunni and Shiite Arabs, and Turkmen. It has long been at the center of disputed territories between Baghdad and Erbil.
According to the Iraqi constitution, which was approved by a majority of Iraqi voters in early 2005, the fate of the disputed territories must be decided after three stages of normalization, census and referendum, according to Article 140, up to end of 2007.
The disputed territories is a constitutional term used to refer to the political and administrative situation in Kirkuk province and the areas that have been changed in terms of administrative and demographic conditions due to the policies of the Iraqi government from 1968 up to 2003.
Up to the present, only part of the first has been implemented, which led to tensions over administrative and security posts, disputes over ownership of lands and farms and several other issues leaving the area in poor conditions in terms of public services and security.
