ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Ammar al-Hamdani of the Sunni Taqadum Party was elected as chairman of Baghdad provincial council on Saturday, replacing Ammar al-Qaisi of the Azm Alliance who was removed from the post two days earlier.

On Thursday, the council voted by an absolute majority to remove Qaisi from the position, after not being convinced with his answers during a session questioning the chair on grounds of “mismanagement and job exploitation.”

Qaisi claimed that the decision was the result of “known political motives,” slamming his dismissal as “excluding reformist voices.” He added that he will resort to the judiciary to appeal the decision.

Qaisi had been accused of lying about his health to obtain sick leaves.

Ali al-Zarkani, head of the State of Law bloc in the council, said that the councilors were not convinced by Qaisi’s answers and accused him of “procrastination” and “disrupting the work of the council.”

Following Qaisi’s dismissal, Hamdani said that the position of chair of the council belongs to Taqadum Party, adding that the candidate will be chosen by the party’s leader Mohammed al-Halbousi, former speaker of the Iraqi parliament.

Iraq held provincial council elections in December 2023. Qaisi was elected as the Baghdad council chief in February 2024.
 
In September 2024, Qaisi had issued a decision to dismiss Hamdani as a council member, under the pretext of not attending six out of 15 council sessions. The decision came days after Taqadum had announced its intention to replace the chair.