Basra Federal Region

Establishing a federal region south of Iraq, called Basra Federal Region (إقليم البصرة) is supported by a number of Iraqi political parties. The Iraqi constitution allows any province to become a region with independent powers.[1]

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 Basra.[2] The Sadrist movement opposed the move, saying it was "playing with fire" as did the Islamic Dawa Party of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq 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.[3][4] 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.[5]

In September 2014 a number of locals in Basra participated in a demonstration near the headquarters of the local government in Basra, demanding the transfer of the province to a federal region.[6]

As of early 2015, the majority of the political parties, which objected to the federal plans for Iraq on the pretext that they would lead to division, are now supporting the project.[7] The Shia cleric, Ayatolla Sistani is said to disagree on establishing the Basra Region.[8]

References
  1. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/tr/politics/2012/09/basra-federal-region.html##ixzz3NlClZgPD
  2. Basra heading towards independent region Archived 2011-10-01 at the Wayback Machine, Al Sumaria, 2008-11-17, accessed on 2009-01-05
  3. A New Twist in Iraq's Shi'ite Power Struggle, Time magazine, 2008-11-16, accessed on 2009-01-05
  4. The Basra Federalism Initiative Enters Stage Two, Historiae, 2008-12-15
  5. Autonomy Referendum For Iraq's South Struck Down, Radio Liberty, 2009-01-20
  6. http://www.iraqinews.com/features/urgent-basra-demonstrators-demand-transfer-province-federal-region
  7. http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/12/iraq-division-federal-regions-basra-independence.html#
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-01-03. Retrieved 2015-01-03.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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