POLITICS: Constitutional Conference for Salahal-Din Province’s “Region” begins popular referandum

SALAHAL-DIN / IraqiNews.com: The Secretary-General of the Constitutional Conference for Salahal-Din Province has said Thursday that the phase of the popular referandum has began early in the day in all areas of the Province, in support for the establishment of an administratively and economically independent Region in the Province. “The phase of the popular referandum has began today to gather thousands of signatures by the Province’s citizens, in support for the establishment of Salahal-Din “Region” and we expect that over 100,000 signatures would be gathered in support of the “Region,” Najif al-Mizan told IraqiNews.com news agency. Mizan said that “the special forms have been distributed in all townships and villages of Salal-Din Province, with no exception, and each form includes support for the project, along with personal information, such as the name, the civil identity card, signature, etc.” He added that a group of devoted persons have been distributing the forms and collecting them, in order to hand them over to the Office of the Elections Commission in Salahal-Din Province at the end of next week. Noteworthy is that 20 of Salahal-Din’s 28 Council members have voted on 27/10/2011 to announce the Province as an independent “Region” within the united Iraq, a step confronted by strong opposition by Iraq’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki. Tikrit, the center of Salahal-Din Province, is 175 km to the north of Baghdad.