SLC's Atwan al-Atwani elected new Baghdad governor
On Sunday, the Baghdad Provincial Council elected Atwan al-Atwani, a senior figure in the State of Law Coalition (SLC) and current head of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, as the new governor of the Iraqi capital.
The vote followed a close contest between two political heavyweights: al-Atwani, backed by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's SLC, and Dhulfiqar Thamer al-Fayyad, supported by the Development and Reconstruction Bloc led by current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
The presidency had cleared the way for the new appointment after President Abdul Latif Rashid approved the retirement of outgoing governor Abdul Mutalib Alawi. This marks the second time Alawi has been retired from the post, following a previous dismissal by the council on July 3, which had briefly led to the appointment of Haidar Mohan as governor.
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