Basraians submit signatures for federal region

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Signature gathering centers for the establishment of the Basra federal region witnessed in the past two days a small number of supporters at the center of the city in al-Ushar region, the IraqiNews.comi correspondent who visited several centers said. “This could be attributed to the petition which will last for one month,” the correspondent said, noting that the commission’s employees which run these centers refused to make any statements on the number of registered. “My participation came as i believe in this project. The establishment of the Basra federal region will benefit all Basraians and we will be able to enjoy more freedom in work or to establish constructional projects,” Udai Karim, 45-uear-old citizen, told IraqiNews.com. “I came with my family to center and we signed to support the project and there are so many friends and relatives who will come for the same purpose,” he added. “I faced a lot of difficulties because of the complicated measures followed in signing the application process as it includes so many questions which take time to answer them,” Ali Fayad, 33, said. “Despite that we hope the project will succeed as we consider the establishment of federal region the right solution to put an end to our suffering and the hegemony of the federal government over everything,” he added. “Establishing the Basra region will tackle several problems, mainly the unemployment,” he noted. “I took part in this because i have a belief that Basra enjoys a privacy from other southern provinces,” Mohamed Lafta, 56, said. “The constitution allows to form regions and what we are doing now is something legal and we know that most of the provinces will seek regions of their own,” he underlined. The people of Basra province in southern Iraq had collected 34,800 names for a campaign in which they are demanding the establishment of a federal region of their own. The system of regions enhances the unity of Iraq and reduces the burden on the central government, he added. A month-long petition drive started Monday for a Basra region referendum, which would be held if at least 10 percent of the more than 1.4 million registered voters in the province sign up. Residents have until January 14 to go to 34 locations in the province to submit their signatures. A referendum could be held two to three months after Iraqi election officials certify that the required number of signatures was gathered. The voting age in Iraq is 18, but anybody born in 1991 will be allowed to register and submit signatures after January 1. Under the country’s constitution, any of Iraq’s 18 provinces may form federal regions, either alone or as a group. Regions have the right to create their own constitutions, have separate executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government, and have security forces under their control. “In the case of a contradiction between regional and national legislation in respect to a matter outside the exclusive authorities of the federal government, the regional power shall have the right to amend the application of the national legislation within that region,” the constitution says. Basra, 590 km (340 miles) south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad, has an estimated metropolitan population of 2,300,000 in 2008. Basra, a Shiite province with 20% of the population are Sunnis, is the cradle of the first civilization of Sumer. It has the seven main Iraqi ports. The first built in Islam 14 A.H. (After Hegira), the city played an important role in early Islamic history. The area surrounding Basra has substantial petroleum resources and many oil wells. The city’s oil refinery has a production capacity of about 140,000 barrels per day (bpd). The only Iraqi outlet to the sea, Basra is in a fertile agricultural region, with major products including rice, maize corn, barley, pearl millet, wheat and dates as well as livestock. A network of canals flowed through