Shafaq News/ The Saladin Provincial Council elected a chairperson and a deputy on Sunday, becoming the first province in Iraq to do so after the local elections held on December 18, 2023.
According to a reporter for the Shafaq News agency, the council held its first session on Sunday and voted by majority to elect Adel Abdul Salam as chairperson and Mohammed Hassan Attia his deputy.
On Monday, January 22, the Supreme Judicial Council instructed the presidents of appeal courts in country to receive the winners of the local elections to take the legal oath.
The Independent High Electoral Commission announced on Sunday, January 21, that it had ratified the results of the provincial council elections.
Saladin is located in central Iraq and is home to a diverse population of Sunni Arabs, Kurds, and Turkmens. The province was a major stronghold of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) from 2014 to 2017. The Iraqi government regained control of the province in 2017, but the security situation remains volatile in its periphery.
The local elections were held on December 18, 2023, and were the first to be held in Iraq since 2013. The turnout was low, at just 41%, but the elections were seen as a significant step forward for the democratic process in Iraq after a controversial parliamentary election a year before.