There is no mayor in the center of the war-torn Shingal district of Ninewa province, after the resignation of the mayor, a position which is likely to be filled by a security person, while the district has another mayor and works from Duhok Northern Province.
Shingal district has had two local administrations for nearly six years; One of them is in the center of the district and the other was displaced, operating from Duhok province.
The mayor of the central district of Shingal who took office after the events of October 16, 2017 resigned on April 20, 2023.
"The security situation in Shingal has been very good for six months, so I resigned so that no one would say that I would leave in times of trouble," Fahad Hamid, the resigned acting mayor of Shingal, told KirkukNow.
A new mayor will be appointed for Shingal soon
He took over office as mayor in October 2017, with the support of several security forces, when Iraqi federal government forces entered Shingal district and the Kurdistan Regional Government KRG forces retreated, after relations between the two governments reached their peak due to the referendum.
"A new mayor will be appointed for Shingal soon, according to my information, this time a security person will be appointed mayor," Khal Ali, commander of the pro-Iran paramilitary of Popular Mobilization Forces PMF knonwn as Hashid Shabi in Shingal, told KirkukNow.
He also stressed that for them "the remaining or resignation of Fahad Hamid as mayor of Shingal is not important" and accused him of making an agreement with a Kurdish political party before he resigned, without giving any further details.
The Shingal administration, which operates in Sumel district of Duhok, was formed as a result of the 2013 provincial and district council elections.
Rafat Sammo, the deputy governor of Nineveh for administrative affairs, told Kirkuk Now that the Nineveh administration has not dealt with Hamid, the interim administration of Shingal, but with the legitimate administration of Shingal Naif Saydo, who was previously the mayor of Sinuny district, has been appointed to replace Mahma Khalil.
"The official stamp of the mayor's office is with Nayif Saido and all official documents are sent to him, and he will remain in office until the next elections or the implementation of the agreement between Erbil and Baghdad," he said.
There is no fixed date for the provincial council elections, which ended at the end of 2019 and according to the amendment to the electoral law, the process must be held before the end of this year.
The agreement was signed in 2020 between the federal government and the KRG to form a new administration for the district, rebuild and reorganize the security situation There are more than eight different armed forces in Shingal.
In addition to the two administrations, the Democratic Autonomous Administration, led by parties affiliated to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) as a project to manage Shingal, has power in the district.
We are satisfied with anyone else being appointed to the post, regardless of party, except the PKK
Hasso Ibrahim, a member of the Democratic Autonomous Council in Shingal, told Kirkuk Now that Hamid said he was tired and would resign. "We want a new person to be appointed as soon as possible, provided that the people of Shingal approve him."
The election of the mayor is by law vested in the district elected council; Since the councils are no longer there, the governor has the authority to appoint candidates to run the post of acting mayor, and the prime minister can appoint mayors in the absence of provincial and district councils.
Jalal Khalaf, the former acting director of the district of Shingal, who is currently the director of the central mayor's office, told Kirkuk Now, "I will do the work of the mayor," without giving further details has received.
The problems of Shingal are at a time when; Thousands of Yazidi families are still living in refugee camps in the Kurdistan Region. The fate of more than 2,600 Yazidis kidnapped by ISIS remains unknown.
Mohsen Ali, head of the planning department of the Shingal agriculture department, told Kirkuk Now, "It will not make any difference because all our affairs are handled by the Shingal administration in Duhok, and the stamp and legal and official affairs are with them."
Shingal, 120 km west of Mosul, is a disputed area in Nineveh province between the federal government and the KRG. According to Article 140 of the Iraqi constitution, the district has a population of more than 334,000 people. Shingal was captured by ISIS on August 3, 2014 and recaptured on November 13, 2015.
