Ninewa’s Governor Atheel Nujafi was dismissed from office at
the end of May 2015. Parliament voted him out using the provincial powers law
over a number of issues including his recent trip to the United States,
corruption, and alleged ties to the insurgency. Nujafi first came into office
in 2009 when his al-Hadbaa party swept into power. Since then he has steadily
lost support topped off by him having to flee Mosul in the face of the Islamic
State’s 2014 onslaught. His fall from grave was due to his unpopular policies,
opposition to Prime Minister Haider Abadi, and a declining base.
On May 28,
2015 the Iraqi parliament voted to dismiss Ninewa Governor Atheel Nujafi. That
was approved by Prime Minister Haider Abadi who originally requested
the move. The premier’s office gave several reasons why Nujafi was voted out.
That included corruption charges, visiting the United States without telling
the provincial council, telling the council to cut ties with Baghdad,
threatening council members who did not agree with him, sectarian comments to
the media, and advocating working with the insurgency. Nujafi’s main foreign
patron Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan talked
with Speaker of Parliament Salim Jabouri and Vice President Osama Nujafi, while
the governor responded by saying that he would not give
up his post until he got an official letter announcing his removal. He
added that State of Law plotted against him because he would not agree to allow
the Hashd al-Shaabi join the plan to free Mosul, but also mentioned his trip to
the United States was also a cause. Nujafi was right, it was Prime Minister
Abadi from State of Law that pushed his dismissal, and his visit to America did
play a major role along with other issues.
Governor Nujafi’s policies were the main reason for his
fall. Earlier in May he went to Washington D.C. where he advocated for turning
Ninewa into
a region, and that the United States should directly
arm Sunnis in the provinces. Back in Baghdad Atheel along with his brother
Osama have been using their Mutahidun party to block
passage of the National Guard and Accountability and Justice bills. On the
former Mutahidun wants the new forces to be under local control rather than the
prime minister and on the latter they claim the reforms to the deBaathification
process do not go far enough. Finally, the governor is seen as being dependent
upon Turkey and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), which has cost it support
in Baghdad and with other Sunni parties. President Erdogan was an opponent of
former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki leading Ankara to push Sunni federalism via
Mutahidun and the KDP’s Kurdish independence drive both of which raised
opposition from Shiite parties. Finally, Nujafi originally came to power in
2009 with his anti-Kurdish and Arab nationalist al-Hadbaa party. By 2013 his
position within Ninewa had deteriorated so much that he was forced to cut a
deal with the KDP to stay in office for a second term. This again angered many
of the people he originally appealed to back in 2009. Finally, the governor’s
brother Vice President Najafi talked
about working with the Naqshibandi and Army of the Mujahedeen to help retake
Mosul from the Islamic State back in 2014 giving rise to charges that the
Nujafi’s had connections to the insurgency. All together the governor had
become widely unpopular both within Ninewa and in Baghdad for the stances that
he took and the alliances that he made. That increasingly raised the ire of the
prime minister with the visit to America probably being the last straw leading
to the dismissal request.
Governor Nujafi’s faltering standing in Iraq was what led to
him losing his position. At one time the governor appeared to be a rising star
as a new Sunni leader after this 2009 victory in Ninewa. Since then he has
become increasingly marginalized due to his policies. Going to the United
States sealed Nujafi’s fate. There was no way that Abadi was going to allow a
governor to go to one of Iraq’s prime allies to lobby for policies that undercut
Baghdad’s. Nujafi has not stepped down yet so this drama may drag on for a
while, but his time appears to be up.
SOURCES
AIN, “Atheel sticks to Nineveh Governor’s post, rejects
involving PMF in liberating Nineveh,” 5/29/15
- “Erdogan has extensive contacts with al-Jubouri and Najafi
to reverse the sacking of the governor of Nineveh,” 5/28/15
Al Forat, “PM approves dismissing Governor of Nineveh,”
5/28/15
Al Masalah, “Najafi, leader of Mosul to expel Daash from the
city,” 8/1/14
- “What are the reasons for the dismissal of Ethel Nujaifi?”
5/29/15
Sotaliraq, “Najafi attributes the reason for his dismissal
to “refusing to engage the popular crowd” in the liberation of Mosul,” 5/28/15
Stein, Aaron, “Turkey’s Weakness in Iraq Tied to Weakness in
Nujaifi,” Atlantic Council, 5/26/15
Taylor, Guy, “U.S. must alter arms flow to retake Mosul from
Islamic Tate, Sunni lawmaker warns,” Washington Times, 5/13/15
War Media, “Nujaifi urges US to convert Nineveh to region,”
5/12/15
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