The

Basra governorate Basra Governorate ( ), also called Basra Province, is a governorate in southern Iraq in the region of Arabian Peninsula, bordering Kuwait to the south and Iran to the east. The capital is the city of Basra, located in the Basrah district. Other ...

election of 2009 was held on 31 January 2009 alongside elections for all other

governorates A governorate or governate is an administrative division headed by a governor. As English-speaking nations tend to call regions administered by governors either states or provinces, the term ''governorate'' is typically used to calque divisions o ...

outside

Iraqi Kurdistan Iraqi Kurdistan or Southern Kurdistan () refers to the Kurds, Kurdish-populated part of northern Iraq. It is considered one of the four parts of Greater Kurdistan in West Asia, which also includes parts of southeastern Turkey (Northern Kurdist ...

and

Kirkuk Kirkuk (; ; ; ) is a major city in northern Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Iraqi Turkmen, Iraqi Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Cit ...

Background

One seat in the election is reserved for Assyrian Christians Basra is the main oil-producing and transit centre in Iraq, which has led to intense competition over control of its Governorate. It has been the centre of competition between the al-Maliki Federal government, which controls the police and army, the Islamic Virtue Party Governor of Basra which controls the Oil Protection Corps and local militias from the

Sadrist Movement The Sadrist Movement ( ') is an Iraqi Shi'a Islamic national movement and political party, led by Muqtada al-Sadr. The Sadrist Movement ended as largest political party in the October 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election, with 73 seats in Parliamen ...

and Tharallah. Following the Battle of Basra in 2008, the central government seized control of the city's streets from the Sadrist Movement and the security situation improved. In April 2007, SIIC successfully brought a no-confidence motion against Governor Waili. This dismissal was ratified by Prime Minister

Nouri al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki (; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as Vice President ...

in July, but eventually overturned by the Supreme Court.In Basra, political skirmishing heats up as elections near
''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'', 2008-12-28 The central government has organized "'' Local Support Committee''" militias, has spent $100 million in reconstruction projects and has started paying unemployment benefits in the province. This was expected to lead to an increased support for Prime Minister

Islamic Dawa Party The Islamic Dawa Party () is an Iraqi Shia Islamist political movement that was formed in 1957 by seminarians in Najaf, Iraq, and later formed branches in Lebanon and Kuwait. The Party backed the Iranian Revolution and also Ayatollah Ruholla ...

. Meanwhile, the Islamic Virtue Party dropped Waeli from its candidate list, reportedly due to his "''polarizing''" effect. In a move away from their traditional apolitical stance, a list with a core support from the Shaykhiya religious community stood for the first time.

Basra Region

In November 2008 Wael Abdul Latif, an Independent Islamist MP backed by tribal Sheikhs, submitted a petition to the Electoral Commission of Iraq signed by 34,800 people calling for a vote on a Region of Iraq covering only the governorate of Basrah. The Sadrist movement opposed the move, saying it was "''playing with fire''" as did the

of Prime Minister

SCIRI The Sciri, or Scirians, were a Germanic people. They are believed to have spoken an East Germanic language. Their name probably means "the pure ones". The Sciri were mentioned already in the late 3rd century BC as participants in a raid on the ...

remained neutral, as it supports a nine-province Region covered the whole of southern Iraq. As the petition was signed by more than 2% of the population, the commission published an official request for signatures; if more than 10% of the population had signed it before 15 January 2009, a referendum would have been held within 15 days. In the event, the initiative failed to reach 10% and was struck down by the Electoral Commission. Backers accused the al-Maliki federal government of blocking their media campaign and appealed the decision to the Federal Court.

Results

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Nouri Al-Maliki Nouri Kamil Muhammad-Hasan al-Maliki (; born 20 June 1950), also known as Jawad al-Maliki (), is an Iraqi politician and leader of the Islamic Dawa Party since 2007. He served as the Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014 and as Vice President ...

, , 3 , , 20 , , +17 , , 239,007 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Al Mihrab Martyr List , , style="text-align:left;" , ISCI, , Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, , 20 , , 5 , , -15 , , 74,879 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Gathering of Justice and Unity The Gathering of Justice and Unity (list 269/710) (also known as Amir al-Fayiz) is a political coalition that contested the 2009 Basra governorate election and is registered for the 2014 Iraqi legislative election. The list is led by Al-Faiz, the ...

, , , , , , - , , 2 , , +2 , , 34,862 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Independent Free Movement List , , style="text-align:left;" ,

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Muqtada al-Sadr Muqtada al-Sadr (; born 4 August 1974) is an Iraqi Shia Muslim cleric, politician and militia leader. He inherited the leadership of the Sadrist Movement from his father, and founded the now dissolved Mahdi Army militia in 2003 that resisted ...

, , 2 , , 2 , , - , , 32,020 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Iraqi Islamic Party, , style="text-align:left;" , Iraqi Islamic Party , , Tariq al-Hashimi , , - , , 2 , , +2 , , 24,817 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Iraqi National List, , style="text-align:left;" ,

Iraqi National Accord The Iraqi National Accord (INA; Arabic: الوفاق الوطني العراقي; ''Al-Wifaq Al-Watani Al-'Iraqi''), colloquially known in Iraq as Wifaq, is an Iraqi political party founded by Ayad Allawi, Tahsin Muallah and Salah Omar al-Ali in ...

, , Iyad Allawi , , 4 , , 2 , , -2 , , 21,091 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Islamic Virtue Party , , style="text-align:left;" , Islamic Virtue Party , , Abdelrahim Al-Husseini , , 12 , , 1 , , -11 , , 20,932 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Chaldean Democratic Union Party
(Assyrian reserved seat) , , style="text-align:left;" , CDUP , , Ablahad Afraim Sawa , , - , , 1 , , +1 , , 227 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Other Parties, , , , , , , , , , , , 198,274 , - , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Total , , , , 41 , , 35 , , -6 , , 646,109 , - , colspan=5 style="text-align:left;" , Sources: this article
Al Sumaria

New York Times
- final election results
, '' Niqash'', 2009-02-25

References

{{Iraqi governorate elections, 2009 2009 Iraqi governorate elections Basra Governorate in the Iraq War History of Basra Governorate

Background

Basra Region

Results

See also

References