MPs call to remove deputy speaker

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Parliamentary representatives of Ninewa on Tuesday called on Iraq’s Council of Representatives to remove Aref Tayfour from his position as its second deputy speaker, following his alleged calls to divide Ninewa into two provinces to be administered by al-Hadbaa and Ninewa Fraternal lists. “We, representatives of Ninewa province in the Iraqi Parliament, call to remove the second deputy speaker, Aref Tayfour, from his position,” MP Nour al-Din al-Hayali said today during a press conference held at the Iraqi Parliament, which was attended by IraqiNews.com news agency. “The statements came after the crisis that erupted between al-Hadbaa and Ninewa Fraternal lists in the province…,” Hayali noted, describing the statements as “horrifying.” “Mosul would be the next victim of division, especially after repeated calls to incorporate the districts of Sinjar, Talafar, Talkeef, al-Shaykhan and Makhmour into the Kurdistan region,” Hayali added. The lawmaker called on the central government in Baghdad to put an end to “such statements that plan to divide Iraq.” In response to a question posed by an IraqiNews.com correspondent about the constitutionality of the dismissal call, made by five parliamentarians, Hayali said that Tayfour had sworn an oath to maintain the territorial integrity of the country when he assumed office. “But now he has violated his oath to find a form of self-rule in Iraqi areas…,” he added. Mosul, the capital city of Ninewa province, lies 405 km north of Baghdad. SS (S) 1