MP’s decision to cancel partisan support councils welcomed

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Lawmaker and senior member of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), Sheikh Jalal al-Din al-Sagheer, on Wednesday welcomed Premier Nouri al-Maliki’s decision to cancel partisan support councils, expressing his hope that measures would be taken to make the decision credible. “We wished thing had taken this turn from the beginning,” Sheikh al-Sagheer, who is member of the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance (UIA – 83 seats out of 275), told IraqiNews.com. “The premier is serious in this regard,” he said. “We are waiting for practical measures that give this decision the final credibility,” he added. “Intentions and statements are not enough,” he noted. “Our major demand is to make those councils have clear appearance, and to cancel any council that is affiliated with any party,” he explained. “Support councils should not be attributed to the federal government, but to provincial councils, as they represent the government,” he asserted. Earlier today, the Iraqi Premier decided to cancel any support council that is affiliated with any political party, considering such councils illegal. MH (S) / SS   1