BAGHDAD MAYORAL SELECTION PROCESS

• The Baghdad City Council, with the participation of the Chair and Vice-Chairs of Baghdad’s nine District Councils, will vote for a new mayor at a special plenary meeting on Sunday, April 18.

• The Group will select the top three from among eight candidates, chosen by a 13-member selection committee.

• After the votes are tallied, the council will submit the names of the three top vote-getters, in rank order, to CPA for final confirmation.

The eight Baghdad Mayoral finalists are, in alphabetical order:

• Dr. Ihsan Mohammed Lutf Allah Shirzad
• Dr. Alaa Mahmood al-Tamimi
• Eng Ali Radhi al-Haydari
• Eng. Omar Rasheed al-Qaraghuli
• Dr. Omar Farooq al-Damaluji
• Dr. Faris Abdul Kareem Kubba
• Dr. Fa’iq Abbas Tawfiq al-Bidhawi
• Dr. Hisham Hameed al-Ani

• The selection committee, composed of ten City Council members and Baghdad’s three deputy mayors, screened more than 90 applications, and chose to interview 28 qualified individuals.

• It used an objective system, designed -- as directed by the full City Council -- to favor technocratic candidates, to arrive at the final eight.

• Points were assigned for educational qualifications, professional experience, interview performance and foreign language ability.

• The selection process encountered bumps. There are credible reports of a bribery attempt by one of the 90 applicants, but this failed due to the credibility and integrity of the committee, and this applicant is not among the eight finalists.

• The eight finalists for Mayor of Baghdad are an impressive group. Six hold PhDs. All have engineering backgrounds that will prove invaluable in running the 9000-employee Amanat.

• Most have extensive experience as local government managers inside Iraq; one was Minister of Public Works in the pre-Saddam era. Several have extensive experience outside Iraq; one was senior advisor for Planning in Abu Dhabi, while another helped develop the open spaces plan for the City of Paris. Four of the finalists are Shia and four are Sunni; one is a Kurd.

• Following the April 18 meeting, the Council will present CPA with a rank-ordered list of the top three vote-getters. The members understand that CPA has the final say on the selection, but absent a serious issues, the expectation is that CPA will confirm their choice.