Additionally, as a result of the more centralized system of power in Iraq, most of the qualified managerial staff end up in Baghdad sooner or later. The headquarters of all departments and ministries are in the capital city and the established career ladder for civil servants sees most of them migrate to Baghdad eventually, where they work with other senior managers.
This means that Iraq’s provinces lack qualified staffers and a managerial class. Law 21 gives provincial officials the right to choose its own officials of the judiciary as well as local security and it also gives them the final say on whether and where the Iraqi army is stationed in the province.
It also gives the provincial councils significant power over their own finances, specifying that they can do what they want with the funds from the federal budget allocated to them and it lets them keep much of the money collected within the province itself.
The question that remains to be answered is whether the provinces actually have the right people to manage any newfound independence and power, both financial and security-related.
Those who favour the transfer of power say they can handle it but provide few details. Existing realities would appear to indicate they are being overly optimistic and in fact, there have been a number of workshops and seminars to try and assist in training new administrators and managers.
There are undoubtedly positives and negatives to provincial independence and that is one of the sticking points that politicians have debated many times. Plenty of reasons remain for a more decentralized power system in Iraq – and perhaps especially at the moment.
On Dec. 19, the provincial council in Salahaddin province held a special meeting to discuss the matter. Among the issues they discussed were problems in Tikrit, a city from which the extremist Islamic State group were expelled almost two years ago – yet Tikrit still doesn’t have a long-term plan for revival and stability, because the central government is too busy fighting the Islamic State, or IS, group elsewhere in the country.
Comments are closed.