Ninawa governorate election, 2013

Ninawa governorate election, 2013

20 June 2013 (2013-06-20)

All 39 seats for the Ninawa Governorate council

Governor of Ninawa before election Atheel al-Nujaifi Al-Hadba Subsequent Governor Atheel al-Nujaifi Al-Hadba

The Nineveh governorate election of 2013 was held on 20 June 2013 alongside elections for Al Anbar Governorate. Due to a combination of disenchantment with the previous Sunni Arab dominated Council's record and the threat from security problems turnout was nearly half of that seen in the 2009 election in Ninawa. The election saw the previously dominant Sunni Arab parties lose many seats to minorities dominated parties.

Background

Demographics

Nineveh is one of Iraq's most demographically diverse governorates. Out of a total population of some 2.8 million, 2013 estimates cited by Niqash claim there are around 300,000 Turkmen, mostly living in the areas of Tal Afar and Rashidiya. A similar sized population of Yazidis live in the districts of Shekhan and Sinjar, as well as near the town of Bashiqa. Some 250,000 Shabak people live in villages north and east of Mosul, and there are 200,000 Christians inhabiting places such as Bashiqa, Bartella and Hamdaniya. There is also a sizable Kurdish population, and many Yazidis also identifying as Kurds.^[1]

Delay

Whilst elections for 13 of Iraq's 18 governorates were held on 20 April, elections in the governorates of al-Anbar and Ninawa were delayed due to security concerns arising from the ongoing insurgency and Sunni-led protests.^[2]

Campaign

Violence

As of 14 June there had been 8 attacks on provincial council candidates in Ninawa, resulting in the deaths of 6 candidates, including Muhanad Ghazi, a Sunni Arab candidate for the Iraqi Republican Gathering; a party supportive of Prime Minister Maliki. Ghazi was shot dead by unknown gunmen whilst walking home from the mosque in East Mosul.^[3][4]

Another local politician, Younis al-Rammah, the leader of the moderate United Iraqi Gathering party, was killed in a terrorist attack on 19 June, a day before the election. Rammah was hosting a family gathering at a house in Hadhar in Nineveh Province when a man embraced him and detonated a suicide vest, killing Rammah and 4 of his relatives. No group claimed responsibility for the attack, although Iraqi officials have blamed most recent attack on attempts by the Islamic State of Iraq to disrupt the political process and harbor a return to widespread sectarian violence.^[5][6][7]

There was further violence on polling day itself, with four Iraqi soldier being wounded by mortar rounds and roadside bombs in the Mosul area.^[8]

Results

Table

Summary of the 20 June 2013 Ninawa governorate election results

Party/Coalition		Allied national parties	Leader	Seats	Change	Votes	%	±%
	Brotherhood and Coexistence Alliance List	KDP PUK		11	1	173,687	29.87%	2.39%
	Muttahidoon	al-Hadba Iraqi Islamic Party	Usama al-Nujayfi	8	14	129,556	22.28%	27.54%
	Loyalty to Nineveh List	Iraqi National Dialogue Front al-Hal	Ghanim al-Baso Saleh al-Mutlaq Jamal al-Karbouli	4		66,517	11.44%
	United Nineveh		Sheikh Abdullah al-Yawer	3		45,971	7.91%
	Iraqi Construction and Justice Gathering		Dildar Zebari	3		39,126	6.73%
	Al Iraqia National and United Coalition		Ayad Allawi	2		31,276	5.38%
	Nineveh’s Bravery Coalition			1		23,361	4.02%
	Nineveh’s National Alliance			1		22,734	3.91%
	Oum Rabih Tribes’ National Gathering		Hassan Khulayf	1		21,349	3.67%
	Al Shabak Freemen Council			1		12,689	2.18%
	Yazidi Movement for Reform and Progress			1		10,397	1.79%	1.17%
	Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Gathering Coalition	Gathered Force Movement Chaldean National Council Chaldean Syriac Assyrian Popular Council Assyrian National Party Rafidain List National Bet-Nahrain Union		1		8,635	1.49%
	Iraqi People’s Coalition			1		8,633	1.48%
	Iraq’s Benevolence and Generosity List		Dr Rushdi Said	1		8,076	1.39%
	Iraqi Freemen Coalition
	Iraq’s Advocates for State Support
	Reformers Gathering
	National Moderation Front
	United National Christian Assembly
	Iraq’s Unified Gathering		Younis al-Rammah
	Oum Rabih National Independent Gathering
	United Democratic ِArabic Movement “United Democratic Arabic Trend”
	Lawyer Yuhanna Youssef Tuma Buta
	Future Path for Yazidis Party
	Free Yazidi Gathering
	Yazidi Democratic Front
	Yazidi Progress Party
	Shabak Independent Party
Total				39	2	581,449
Sources: al-Sumaria - Nineveh Coalitions, ISW, Ninewa Final Results - IHEC, IHEC List of political coalitions, Anbar Final Candidate Vote Results - IHEC

Analysis

The Uniters List, composed of al-Hadba and the Iraqi Islamic Party, had won 49.82% of the vote and 22 of the 37 seats in the Ninawa Governorate Council in 2009. The party was reduced to 8 of the 39 seats in the Council as a result of the 2013 election. The turn away from these local Arab parties resulted in them losing control of the Council, although Atheel al-Nujaifi managed to retain his position as governor. The new President of the Council was Bashar Kiki, a Kurd, and the new Vice-President, Nour ad-Din Qabalan, was a Turkmen. Nujaifi's deputy was Abdul Qader Battoush, who is also Kurdish. Nujaifi's second deputy was Hassan al-Allaf, an Arab, and one of only three politicians to be elected from Mosul, which had produced a large number of Arab politicians in the previous election.^[1]

Hamza Hussein, a local political scientist, argued that the record number of seats won by minorities showed a widespread popular discontent and lack of confidence in the previous Council. Local activist Rabea Mustafa that the opposition to the previous council largely arose due to resentment at their fractured nature, which hampered their ability to deliver basic services. Mustafa also argued that the election result came about due to minorities being driven out of Mosul due to being the target of violence. These minorities then settled in different parts of Ninawa. Voter turnout inside Mosul was then limited due to security problems and lack of confidence in both the political process and the previous council. Candidates were better able to canvass outside of Mosul due to improve security, whereas the security inside Mosul was far worse, with candidates being threatened and in some cases killed. This resulted in many Mosul based candidates withdrawing from the election.^[1] Voter turnout was nearly half that seen in 2009, with voter turnout for 2013 being 581,449, compared to the 995,169 that turned out in 2009.

References

Iraqi governorate elections, 2013 Al-Anbar Arbīl Bābil Baghdād Al-Basrah Dahūk Dhī Qār Diyālā Karbalā' Maysān Al-Muthannā An-Najaf Nīnawā Al-Qādisiyyah Kirkūk Salāh ad-Dīn As-Sulaymāniyyah Wāsit