Asaib Ahl al-Haq pushes to retain Babil governor post

Shafaq News– Baghdad

Asaib Ahl al-Haq is moving to retain control of Iraq’s Babil province governor post following the elevation of the current governor to parliament’s leadership, according to a source familiar with the talks.

The source told Shafaq News on Tuesday that members of the Babil Provincial Council held a closed consultative meeting to discuss the governorship and potential successors. It remains, for now, within the quota of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, the source said, dismissing circulating reports that the post would shift to the State of Law Coalition led by former PM Nouri Al-Maliki.

Only four names have been formally put forward—all of them affiliated with Asaib Ahl al-Haq—split evenly between candidates from northern and southern districts of the province.

Some council members, the source added, are pushing for a consensus candidate from within Asaib Ahl al-Haq, but only if that figure can secure acceptance from blocs outside the Coordination Framework, Iraq’s largest political bloc, to avoid another round of political paralysis inside the council.

The renewed jockeying follows the election of Adnan Fayhan, the sitting Babil governor, as first deputy speaker of Iraq’s parliament. Fayhan won the post with 177 votes, defeating Mohsin al-Mandalawi, who secured 107 votes, while 22 ballots were invalid.