VZCZCXRO7882
RR RUEHBC RUEHDA RUEHDE RUEHIHL RUEHKUK
DE RUEHGB #1424/01 1161145
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 261145Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BAGHDAD
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0919
INFO RUCNRAQ/IRAQ COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BAGHDAD 001424 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV KDEM IZ
SUBJECT: NINEWA'S PROVINCIAL COUNCIL FULLY  FUNCTIONAL 
 
This is a Ninewa Provincial Reconstruction Team 
(PRT) message. 
 
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SUMMARY 
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¶1.  (U) The Ninewa Provincial Council (PC) has 
evolved into a fully-functioning political body that 
debates and resolves provincial issues of the day. 
With this maturity, Ninewa PRT has assumed a role 
with Ninewa's PC that a U.S. Mission office would 
normally play in a developing democracy. 
Accomplishments such as passing the FY 2007 budget, 
fixing potholes, organizing a committee structure 
and cooperating with the other organs of provincial 
power are achieved without direct PRT intervention. 
Ninewa's PC has become a powerful legitimate engine 
of embedded democracy in this key province.   END 
SUMMARY. 
 
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NO RECESS, NO PLAY 
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¶2.  (U) The Ninewa PC holds full Council meetings 
weekly, and its committees meet daily.  During the 
runup to passage of the 2007 Provincial GOI-funded 
Accelerated Reconstruction and Development Fund 
(ARDF) budget, the PC's Municipality and 
Reconstruction Committee (MRC) and Strategic 
Planning Committee (SPC) held combined hearings, 
during which they called in Provincial Directors- 
General (DGs) for extensive questioning. 
 
¶3.  (U) After two weeks of hearings, the two 
committees held three 14-hour days of debate and 
horse-trading to arrive at the draft 2007 ARDF 
budget.  PRT members observed hearings, but did 
participate in the committee negotiations.  After 
spirited debate the draft budget was passed by the 
full council with a large majority on 4 April. 
 
¶4.  (U) Normally nearly all PC members are present 
for plenary Council sessions.  For the ARDF budget 
vote, only one member failed to attend.  Iraqi 
Security Forces (ISF) representatives, and the 
Provincial Governor and Vice-Governor usually 
participate.  The weekly plenary session are 
recorded, start to finish, and televised throughout 
the province.  Security --  every citizen's first 
concern -- leads off, with provincial ISF senior 
leadership giving a summary of the previous week's 
security situation.  This presentation is followed 
by direct and informed questions from PC members. 
The security presentation accounts for less than an 
hour of a normally four to six-hour meeting. 
 
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POTHOLES AND POLLUTION 
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¶5.  (U) The balance of plenary PC meetings are 
occupied by government affairs of the same kind one 
might hear discussed at a U.S. statehouse or at a 
county board meeting.  The PC follows an agenda 
prepared by the PC Chair's staff.  A few weeks ago, 
a lengthy deliberation addressed the best approach 
to filling potholes in sidewalks.  The PC hashed 
over the symbolism of simply repaving them as 
opposed to planting trees instead.  Last week, the 
PC dealt with a report implicating a local cancer 
center in dumping radioactive medical waste into the 
Tigris.  The PC formed an investigative subcommittee 
and will bring in the center's Director for a 
hearing on this matter. 
 
¶6.  (U) The PC's committees address the full range 
of current issues in the province, from security and 
reconstruction to education and religious affairs. 
As noted for the MRC and SPC, committees take the 
lead in their areas of responsibility.  Working in 
conjunction with the executive and judicial branches 
of provincial government -- not always harmoniously, 
but usually effectively -- these committees seek 
practical solutions to constituents' problems. 
 
¶7.  (U) Our PRT contributes to effective constituent 
relations by facilitating participation of PC 
members at District and Sub-District Councils as 
well as general local meetings.  Local grievances 
are readily apparent to PC members. 
 
BAGHDAD 00001424  002 OF 002 
 
 
 
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COMMENT 
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¶8.  (SBU)  Council members face intense insurgent 
intimidation, and travel to Council meetings can 
pose significant risk.  To alleviate this problem, 
the PC Chair facilitated sleeping quarters at 
Council Hall for members who cannot safely travel 
back to their homes if PC business runs late.  PC 
members still struggle with the challenge of running 
a legislature for over two million people and a 
budget of hundreds of millions of dollars with fewer 
than two years' experience in this complex and 
demanding role. 
 
¶9.  (U) COMMENT CONTINUED.  Despite these 
constraints, Ninewa's PC is a testament to the 
intense desire of the people of Ninewa to gain real 
control of their province through their provincial 
representatives.  Strong efforts by our PRT and our 
Iraqi counterparts have yielded remarkable success - 
- to the extent that televised PC sessions bear a 
strikingly satisfying similarity to C-SPAN.  END 
COMMENT. 
CROCKER