Sayyid Al-Hakeem From Diyala: Societal Cohesion, Sustained Intelligence Effort Basis for Preserving Stability, Administrative Decentralization Constitutional Entitlement for Governorates

At the start of his tour of Diyala Governorate, His Eminence Sayyid Al-Hakeem, Head of the National State Powers' Alliance, met with the Governor, Mr. Adnan Mohammed Al-Shammari, the Chairman of the Governorate Council, Dr. Omar Maan Al-Karawi, a number of members of the Council of Representatives and the Governorate Council, and the directors of the service and security departments in the governorate, regarding Diyala as a miniature Iraq and commending the efforts made for Diyala's cohesion and for serving its people, explaining that Diyala bore great burdens on the security level that left many martyrs in this governorate.

H.E. explained that the end of the International Coalition's missions against ISIS places us before the responsibility of safeguarding the components and sending messages of reassurance among them, while taking caution and vigilance against terrorist cells and not being complacent toward them, stressing sustained intelligence and proactive work, and making it a condition for stripping terrorism of its incubators that society be cohesive, that the people embrace one another, and that they support the state in enforcing the law.

H.E. stressed addressing the problem of weapons outside the state in accordance with the approved timelines, explaining that Iraq has been harmed by the events in the region, which caused financial losses that put it in a critical economic situation, and called for concerted efforts to improve performance, expressing hope that the upcoming budget will lead to solutions for the crises, and affirming that allocating funds for the development of the regions will represent an important leap in the governorates in supporting projects.

H.E. clarified that local governments are service governments, calling for keeping political conflicts away from them, and expressed happiness at the easing of the displacement crisis in Diyala and concern over the decline of orange and citrus cultivation there and the loss of many of its orchards, stressing the investment of agricultural, industrial, commercial, investment, and oil opportunities and border crossings in supporting and empowering Diyala, and pointing to the importance of investing in the governorate's water and managing it well.

H.E. pointed to the importance of granting local governments their constitutional powers, together with the importance of spreading the principle of distributing roles and enabling institutions to carry out their duties, explaining that administrative decentralization is a constitutional fact, and that there are individual tendencies that lead to centralization, and urging the governorates to object to any step that contributes to weakening local governments and overstepping their constitutional and legal rights.