Basra provincial council calls for autonomous region

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Basra provincial council calls for autonomous region

Gregg Carlstrom | June 21, 2010 5:53 AM | This weekend's electricity protests in Basra might spark a renewed bid for autonomy in southern Iraq: Jabbar Amin, the chairman of the provincial council, said yesterday that he wants to create a Basra autonomous region (عربي) to "improve the services provided to residents of the province."

Chapter five, article 115 of the Iraqi constitution allows provinces to form autonomous regions:

One or more governorates shall have the right to organize into a region based on a request to be voted on in a referendum...

The referendum is called if requested by either one-third of the provincial council members or 10 percent of registered voters. Walid Gitan, the head of Basra's planning commission, says a "majority" of council members support this latest bid for autonomy.

Basra's local government has called for autonomy before: Provincial officials tried to organize a referendum in 2009, but couldn't gather enough signatures.

Residents in Basra continue to swelter in high temperatures (46C/115F today). Their already meager supply of electricity -- just six hours per day -- was further disrupted yesterday: Officials at the ministry of electricity say a dust storm knocked out transmission lines (عربي).

Protesters took to the streets for a second day yesterday, and the demonstrations also spread to the city of Nasiriyah (عربي) in Dhi Qar province today.

The delegation sent to Basra by prime minister Nouri al-Maliki has offered to increase the province's share of electricity (عربي).

http://www.themajlis.org/2010/06/21/basra-provincial-council-calls-for-autonomous-region