Newly-elected Erbil governor takes oath of office
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The newly-elected governor of Erbil Province, Firsat Sofi, took his oath of office on Monday before the President of the Kurdistan Region, Nechirvan Barzani.
During the ceremony attended by Interior Minister, Rabar Ahmed, Barzani wished the new governor great success in his new duties, while also thanking Sofi’s predecessor, Nawzad Hadi.
Sofi was elected last week, after 27 members of the Erbil Provincial Council (EPC) out of 28 attendees voted for him in a session a day after Hadi stepped down.
The council has 30 seats, 12 of which belong to the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP).
The Chairman of the EPC, Ali Rashid, recently affirmed the new governor would “bring about changes to the province” in efforts to further develop the Kurdistan Region capital and attract more investment.
Sofi has a PhD in Law and was a former lawmaker in the Kurdistan Parliament. In the past years, he has served in many other government and parliament-related posts, and previously taught as a lecturer at the Erbil Polytechnic University.
He was the only lawmaker in the Kurdistan Parliament to refuse his retirement pension after a debate erupted over controversial pension funds dedicated to retired members of parliament.
Since 2004, about 17,000 projects have been carried out in the province of Erbil, which includes 35 towns, districts, and sub-districts.
Editing by Nadia Riva