Kurdish lawmaker warns against autocracy

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: A Kurdistan Alliance (KA) parliamentarian on Monday expressed his fears over what he described as attempts to monopolize power, calling on all constituents of Ninewa’s provincial council to participate in a power-sharing government. “Concerns are not only about the prime minister, but other parties as well,” MP Muhsin al-Saadoun told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The prime minister is leading the political process, the country and the government. We have to consider what is going on on the Iraqi scene, particularly in Ninewa province during this period of time,” the parliamentarian added. On April 12, al-Hadbaa List distributed all key positions in Ninewa’s provincial council among its representatives, who secured 25 votes. The final results of the Ninewa provincial council elections, held on January 31, 2009, saw al-Hadbaa list winning 19 seats, followed by the Ninewa Fraternity list with 12 seats and the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP) of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi three seats as well as one seat for each of the Christians, the Shabaks and Yazidis. Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. SS (S) 1