Baghdad Provincial Council elects new governor after deadly protests
The Provincial Council of Baghdad has elected Mohammed Jaber al-Atta as the new governor of the Iraqi capital province, one week after the former head stepped down in the wake of demonstrations against corruption, staggering youth unemployment and poor public services.
On Monday, 42 members of the provincial council voted in favor of Atta, who is a member of the State of Law Coalition headed by former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.
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The council members also voted in favor of Ali al-Issawi as the first deputy governor.
On October 6, Baghdad's provincial council voted unanimously in favor of accepting governor Fallah al-Jazairi’s resignation, and called for nomination of an alternative for the post.
Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul-Mahdi pledged on October 9 to reshuffle his cabinet, launch a probe into the killing of protesters, and punish those who shot the demonstrators.
“We will ask parliament to vote tomorrow on changes to ministries,” the Iraqi prime minister said in a televised speech.
He vowed that his government will refer the names of hundreds of corrupt officials to the Judiciary for investigation.
Abdul-Mahdi also declared three days of national mourning over the deaths of at least 110 people and injuries of more than 6,000 others during the recent violent clashes between security forces and demonstrators in Baghdad and the country's south.
The remarks came only a day after the Iraqi cabinet approved the second package of reforms, including distribution of residential plots of land to citizens, expansion of municipal borders of cities, and changing agricultural land into residential.
The planned reforms also contain freezing the law, which allows payment of several salaries to one public servant, providing jobs for young people and activation of the agricultural lending fund.
Additionally, the Iraqi cabinet endorsed a possible study to minimize the age of retirement to give more jobs to the youth.
Early on October 6, the Iraqi cabinet issued a decree with more than a dozen planned reforms, including land distributions, military enlistment and increased welfare stipends for needy families, AFP news agency reported.
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