Iraq News

Director of Basra election commission, Hazem Al Rubaii announced it will launch a petition drive to see whether there is enough support for a referendum to decide whether Basra province will become a self-ruled region. Centers will be established across Basra where voters can sign the petition asking for a self-rule referendum. The drive begins Monday and will last until Jan. 14, commission officials said. It is to be noted that this project was submitted by Basra lawmaker Wael Abdul-Latif. Al Rubaii said in an interview with Al Hayat newspaper that at least 10 percent of registered voters must sign the petition for a referendum to be scheduled. Afterwards a challenging period of 15 days will be opened. Than, the government will have to decide the date in which the referendum would take place. It is to be noted that this project needs to get the half plus one of the voters’ number in order to ratify it.