VZCZCXRO3008
PP RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHMOS
DE RUEHKUK #0063/01 0761419
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 171419Z MAR 06
FM REO KIRKUK
TO RUEHGB/AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD PRIORITY 0529
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0565
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE
RUEHKUK/REO KIRKUK 0593

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KIRKUK 000063 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
BAGHDAD FOR POL, NCT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV EAID PINR IZ
SUBJECT: PROVINCIAL GOVT STRUGGLES FOR POWER, BUDGET 
 
KIRKUK 00000063  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶1.  (U)  Summary.  Sulaymaniyah provincial leaders stressed the 
need for the Kurdistan National Assembly (KNA) to grant them 
legal authority and practical power to carry out projects. 
Provincial Governor Dana Ahmad Majid requested U.S. technical 
assistance for urban planning and taking a census of the 
population, stating it was requisite for economic growth and 
countering the Islamic parties in the region.  End Summary. 
 
¶2.  (U)  On March 13 Regional Coordinator and IPAO visited 
Sulaymaniyah Provincial Governor Dana Ahmad Majid and members of 
the Provincial Council (PC) to discuss governance issues. 
 
 
Provincial Councils - Elected Without Powers 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU)  Governor Dana said that the Sulaymaniyah Provincial 
Council was handicapped by the dispute between the regional and 
provincial governments over how much CPA Order 71 should govern 
it.  Order 71 created provincial councils in Iraq, and 
Sulaymaniyah held PC elections under it; however, the order also 
exempted the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and granted it 
authority over local government in the region. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  Dana claimed that the KRG exploited the exception and 
constricted the provincial council's influence by denying it 
both a budget and a legal basis for the administration of the 
province.  Without the authority to function, the provincial 
governments were left with Article 53, a law enacted under 
Saddam Hussayn, for legal guidance.  Article 53 does not provide 
for the existence of provincial councils. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  Dana said the provincial councils of Sulaymaniyah, 
Erbil, and Dahuk, had formed a Tripartite Committee to seek a 
clear delineation of their powers.  Dana said the KNA's Legal 
Committee had discussed a proposal the Tripartite Committee had 
drafted to resolve the issue, but the entire KRG was on hold, 
awaiting certainty on whether the current power-sharing bargain 
between Iraq President Talabani and Kurdistan Regional 
Government President Barzani would continue.  If Talabani failed 
to secure a second term as President, no one knew who would take 
which KRG posts.  Moreover, Dana asked how the KNA could deal 
with provincial matters when there still was no national 
government. 
 
 
Budget Insufficient to Run Government, Basic Services 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU) According to Council Member Anwar Faraj, at the heart 
of the power struggle is the budget.  Dana said the budget 
granted no control to the PC because the KRG continued to 
distribute funds through the governor, who then allotted funds 
to the Provincial Council.  Moreover, the budget was too small 
either to sustain a PC or meet the needs of the province.  The 
governor said the the KRG had granted a budget barely enough to 
run the electricity generators for a month.  Faraj added that 
the distribution of the funds was further complicated by there 
being two KRG's, each with its own ministry of finance. 
 
¶7.  (SBU)  Council members disagreed over how much control the 
PC should have over the budget.  Deputy Chair Kawa Abdullah Ali 
said the PC should control the budget and governor merely 
implement it.  Some PC members thought the national ministry of 
finance should sign contracts, others thought the PC should 
control this. 
 
 
Assistance Requests for Planning and Census 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) Dana said Sulaymaniyah needed technical assistance 
from the U.S. to create a long term plan for development.  A new 
population census was important to determine unemployment and 
other economic factors.  He said that, even as the governor of 
the province, he did not know whether the economy was based on 
industry, agriculture, trade, or tourism.  Saddam's regime had 
done the last census and Dana doubted its accuracy. 
 
¶9.  (U) Dana also highlighted the need for technical assistance 
in urban planning, particularly in regards to creating a master 
municipal plan, transportation, hospitals, schools, and parks. 
Dana felt the Provincial Council could not resolve these issues 
without assistance. 
 
 
Provincial Council Structure and Committees 
------------------------------------------- 
 
 
KIRKUK 00000063  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
¶10. (U)  Kawa Abdullah Ali said that in accordance with CPA 
Order 71, the citizens of Sulaymaniyah had elected the 
Provincial Council.  In turn, the council had elected a Chairman 
and a Deputy Chairman and formed 13 committees, including: 
economy, environment, reconstruction, religion, legal, 
transportation, and women's affairs, among others.  The council 
has 41 members from 4 different political parties including the 
Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, Kurdistan Democratic Party, 
Kurdistan Islamic Union, and Kurdistan Islamic Gathering; it has 
13 female members. According to Dana, the Sulaymaniyah 
Provincial Council was the first to function in Iraq. 
 
¶11.  (U) Council members shared some program successes thus far: 
 
-       The Economic Committee was developing a plan for the 
market that included: determining the daily price of goods, 
especially food, establishing product expiry and controlling 
market fluctuation. 
-       The Transportation and Legal Committees had presented a 
plan establishing a requirement for drivers to obtain licenses. 
-       The Legal Committee had established a Claims Department as 
a mechanism for individuals to file claims and seek reparation. 
-       The Women's Rights Committee had prepared a proposal that 
included 10    projects, including one aimed at educating women 
about democracy. 
 
¶12.  (U) Council Members asked the U.S., through the new 
RegionalReconstruction Team (RRT) in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, to 
assist them in obtaining funding from donor countries to help 
build the infrastructure of the Kurdish region.  They also asked 
for technical training, expressing gratitude for assistance 
received through RTI training courses.  Council Members 
highlighted their challenges: 
 
-       The concept of decentralization, as it related to the 
political system, was difficult for people to understand, 
particularly when the government faced technical problems 
inhibiting its implementation.  Sometimes the public blamed 
decentralization for their problems because they misunderstood 
it. 
 
-       Sulaymaniyah planned to move to a free market system; 
however, the public did not understand the principles and laws 
that governed a free market economy.  Further, Iraq's economy - 
and therefore the Kurdish region's economy - was too easily 
influenced by the instability of Iraq's neighbors. 
 
-       Technical assistance in planning and a census were needed 
to equalize development in Sulaymaniyah on a more scientific 
basis. 
 
-       The use of chemical weapons by Saddam Husayn's regime 
continued to affect on environment and public health in 
Halabjah. 
 
-       The Reconstruction Committee said the real need was to 
raise the living standards in the cities.  However, city and 
district councils had not been elected.  There was one municipal 
head in each district, but there should be one representative 
from each district and sub-district.  There was no deadline for 
this and the legal committee was following the issue. 
 
¶13.  (U)  Council members attending included:  Deputy Chair Kawa 
Abdullah Ali, Patriotic United Kurdistan (PUK); Council Member 
Ahmad Hama Rashid, Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG), Economic 
Committee; Council Member Anwar Faraj, KIG, Religious Affair 
Committee; Council Member Soz Abdulqadi Abdulrahman, PUK, 
Women's Rights Committee; and Council Member Kazhal Ali, 
Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Environment Committee. 
 
¶14.  (U)  Bio Note:  Governor Dana speaks and understands some 
English. 
 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶15. (SBU)  The provincial government seems eager and internally 
organized, but lacks power to make things happen, particularly 
on spending.  We suspect that clarity over the distribution of 
power between the regional and provincial government will have 
to await agreement between powerful politicos in the PUK and 
between the PUK and KDP. 
ORESTE