KirkukY: The freezing of the provincial councils and their budgets requires a constitutional and legal document

Kirkuk's member of the Kirkuk's governorate council, Ahmed Fatah Kirkuk'i, confirmed that the move of some deputies to collect signatures with the aim of freezing the work of the governorate councils and their budgets, is not based on a legal basis, noting that the fate of these councils is determined by the Iraq's constitution.

KirkukI said that the provincial councils are based on Article 122 of the Constitution, which granted administrative and financial powers to irregular provinces in accordance with the principle of decentralization, stressing that their abolition requires constitutional processing.

He added that the supervision of the performance of the governorate councils is different from their collective freezing, calling for identifying which council proves to be in breach of its duties or commits breaches, and taking legal action accordingly rather than generalizing responsibility to all councils.

He pointed out that Council of Representatives has control, accountability and accountability powers according to constitutional and legal frameworks, questioning how many members of the governor's councils have been convicted or arrested in corruption files, compared to Council of Representatives members who have faced similar proceedings.

Regarding budgets, KirkukI explained that the constitution provides for a fair share to be allocated to the provinces from federal revenues, warning that the freezing of the provincial councils' budgets would have repercussions on the work of local institutions and services provided to citizens.

He stressed that the freezing of the provincial councils that took place in 2019 is not always a solution, as long as their existence is based on a constitutional text, stressing the need to deal with them in accordance with the constitution and law, as their members have reached their positions through elections and the votes of citizens.