2009 Basra governorate election

The Basra governorate election of 2009 was held on 31 January 2009 alongside elections for all other governorates outside Iraqi Kurdistan and Kirkuk.

2009 Basra Governorate election
31 January 2009 (2009-01-31)
All 35 seats for the Baghdad Governorate council
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Nouri al-Maliki Abdul Aziz al-Hakim al-Faiz
Party State of Law Coalition Al-Mehraab Martyr List Gathering of Justice and Unity
Last election 3 20 0
Seats before 3 20 0
Seats won 20 5 2
Seat change 17 15 2
Popular vote 239,007 74,879 34,862
Percentage 37% 11.6% 5.4%
Swing 5.4%
  Fourth party
 
Leader Muqtada al-Sadr
Party Sadrist Movement
Last election 2
Seats before 2
Seats won 2
Seat change No change
Popular vote 32,020
Percentage 5.96%
Swing
Governor of Baghdad before election

Muhammad al-Waili
Fadhila

 Subsequent Governor

Shitagh Abbud
State of Law Coalition

Background

One seat in the election is reserved for Assyrian Christians [1]

Basra is the main oil-producing and transit centre in Iraq, which has led to intense competition over control of its Governorate.[2] It has been the centre of competition between the al-Maliki Federal government, which controls the police and army, the Islamic Virtue Party Governor of Basra which controls the Oil Protection Corps and local militias from the Sadrist Movement and Tharallah. Following the Battle of Basra in 2008, the central government seized control of the city's streets from the Sadrist Movement and the security situation improved.

In April 2007, SIIC successfully brought a no-confidence motion against Governor Waili. This dismissal was ratified by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in July, but eventually overturned by the Supreme Court.[2]

The central government has organized "Local Support Committee" militias, has spent $100 million in reconstruction projects and has started paying unemployment benefits in the province. This was expected to lead to an increased support for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's Islamic Dawa Party.[2]

Meanwhile, the Islamic Virtue Party dropped Waeli from its candidate list, reportedly due to his "polarizing" effect.[2]

In a move away from their traditional apolitical stance, a list with a core support from the Shaykhiya religious community stood for the first time.[3]

Basra Region
See also: Basra Federal Region

In November 2008 Wael Abdul Latif, an Independent Islamist MP backed by tribal Sheikhs, submitted a petition to the Electoral Commission of Iraq signed by 34,800 people calling for a vote on a Region of Iraq covering only the governorate of Basrah.[4] The Sadrist movement opposed the move, saying it was "playing with fire" as did the Islamic Dawa Party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. SCIRI remained neutral, as it supports a nine-province Region covered the whole of southern Iraq. As the petition was signed by more than 2% of the population, the commission published an official request for signatures; if more than 10% of the population had signed it before 15 January 2009, a referendum would have been held within 15 days.[5][6] In the event, the initiative failed to reach 10% and was struck down by the Electoral Commission. Backers accused the al-Maliki federal government of blocking their media campaign and appealed the decision to the Federal Court.[7]

Results
 Summary of the 31 January 2009 Basra governorate election results
Coalition 2005/2009Allied national partiesLeaderSeats (2005)Seats (2009)ChangeVotes
State of Law CoalitionIslamic Dawa PartyNouri Al-Maliki320+17239,007
Al Mihrab Martyr ListISCIAbdul Aziz al-Hakim205-1574,879
Gathering of Justice and Unity-2+234,862
Independent Free Movement ListSadrist MovementMuqtada al-Sadr22-32,020
Iraqi Islamic PartyIraqi Islamic PartyTariq al-Hashimi-2+224,817
Iraqi National ListIraqi National AccordIyad Allawi42-221,091
Islamic Virtue PartyIslamic Virtue PartyAbdelrahim Al-Husseini121-1120,932
Chaldean Democratic Union Party
(Assyrian reserved seat)		CDUPAblahad Afraim Sawa-1+1227
Other Parties198,274
Total4135-6646,109
Sources: this article - Al Sumaria - New York Times - [8]
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See also

References
  1. Iraqi parliament approves amendment for provincial election law, Xinhua, 2008-11-03
  2. In Basra, political skirmishing heats up as elections near, Los Angeles Times, 2008-12-28
  3. The Candidate Lists Are Out: Basra More Fragmented, Sadrists Pursuing Several Strategies?, Historiae, 2008-12-12
  4. Basra heading towards independent region Archived 2011-10-01 at the Wayback Machine, Al Sumaria, 2008-11-17, accessed on 2009-01-05
  5. A New Twist in Iraq's Shi'ite Power Struggle, Time magazine, 2008-11-16, accessed on 2009-01-05
  6. The Basra Federalism Initiative Enters Stage Two, Historiae, 2008-12-15
  7. Autonomy Referendum For Iraq's South Struck Down, Radio Liberty, 2009-01-20
  8. final election results, Niqash, 2009-02-25
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