MP says electoral commission members oppose Basra region

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: An independent member of parliament has accused the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) of working against a proposal to turn Basra province into a region. “The commission did not deal with the signature-collecting campaign as required…It has opened only 34 centers to collect signatures in the large and vast city of Basra, which has a population of nearly 3 million…,” MP Wail Abdellateef said in an interview with IraqiNews.com. Abdellateef said that field visits throughout the province have revealed that 90 percent welcome the establishment of the southern region, while 10 percent expressed their concerns over interference from Iran and Kuwait, and the return of armed militia groups. Yesterday, the head of the electoral commission, Hazem al-Rubaie, said that a signature-collecting campaign to turn Basra province into a region will last until January 14, 2009, after which period a referendum will be conducted on the issue. Basra, 590 km (340 miles) south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an estimated metropolitan population of 2,300,000 in 2008. SS (P) 1