BAGHDAD — As Iraq's protest movement struck against Iran-backed Shiite groupings in the south and center of the country, the north is also turning its back on them. While a man allied with Shiite forces won the Ninevah governor's post in May, he was ousted in November and replaced with a Sunni figure close to the United States.

Political conflict has returned to the forefront of developments in Ninevah province after the provincial council voted Nov. 24 to dismiss Gov. Mansour al-Muraid and appointed instead the man who had commanded the military operation against the Islamic State there, Maj. Gen. Najm al-Jabouri. The roots of the current crisis in the province stem from the political alignments that followed Muraid’s election in May. Muraid, who is Sunni, is affiliated with the so-called Ataa faction chaired by the head of Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Units, Faleh al-Fayadh; the governor's appointment had drawn battle lines within the Iraqi parliament.

The Ataa faction, which withdrew from the Reform and Reconstruction Coalition to join the Construction Coalition, won the Ninevah governor's post with the support of the Sunnah of Construction faction, headed by the leader of the Arab Project, Khamis al-Khanjar, and former Salahuddin Gov. Ahmad Jabouri, also known as Abu Mazen. Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi, meanwhile, had backed the election of Hossam al-Abbar to the position following the dismissal of Gov. Nawfal al-Akoub, which occurred after a deadly ferry sinking in Ninevah's capital, Mosul.

In recent months, Halbusi has forged a strong coalition within the Ninevah provincial council under the name of Iraqi Ninevah, comprised of 23 of its 39 members. He was thereby able to get Muraid dismissed after opposition parties claimed the governor's election process was legally flawed and described it as giving rise to "foreign hands" who controlled Ninevah from abroad.