The file of corruption in Iraq turns into a media exchange between politicians

The file of corruption in Iraq turns into a media exchange between politicians



The deterioration of the living situation in Iraq (Getty)

Baghdad Aktham Saif Eddin

12 May 2019
The scourge of corruption in Iraq has become one of the most prominent problems that hinder the achievement of the country's progress in the files most compatible with the life of the individual Iraqi, from the provision of basic services through poverty and unemployment escalating, and the security file specifically.

Although corruption charges have been brought against a large number of politicians and officials, the judiciary has not prosecuted any of them so far. The file has gradually moved into the media intermediation section and a review of the slogans among the various political forces.

Last Thursday, the Supreme Council for Combating Corruption, the most recently announced anti-corruption and fifth-of-its-kind formation in Iraq, headed by Adel Abdul Mahdi, issued a decree calling on individuals and entities "regardless of their names and job descriptions to provide evidence against accusations against government officials in the media And means of social communication. "

And stressed the delivery to the "Supreme Council for the fight against corruption within two weeks, otherwise the Council retains legal action against the perpetrators of the charges."

The regulatory bodies estimate the amount of money lost by Iraq in the corruption of more than 450 billion dollars, out of the $ 900 billion received by Iraq from the sale of oil during the past 12 years, but there are those who confirm that the figure is much higher because of international grants handed over to Iraq after In 2003 and tens of billions of dollars in addition to other revenues obtained by Iraq other than those obtained from oil.

"The work of the Council did not record any step to deter and resolve files of corruption"

Step " the Supreme Council for the fight against corruption " have met strong criticism among Iraqi circles.

"The government's ministerial platform ensures that the right to freedom of expression is used, and that the government's commitment to guarantee freedoms should be guaranteed and not restricted," MP Mohammad Shi'a al-Sudani said in a press statement.

"Today, when the Supreme Anti-Corruption Council decides to set a deadline for detecting corruption to provide evidence and otherwise be held accountable, the corruption is more likely to be questioned, while the origin is to encourage, inform and support whistleblowers."

Criticism of the Council's move did not stop at this point, but it opened the door to assessing the work of the Council itself and its achievements.

MP Naji Idris, stressed that "the work of the Council did not record any step to deter and resolve the files of corruption," noting in a press statement, "The purpose of the establishment of the Council is to reduce the phenomenon of corruption rampant in the institutions of the state and its departments, through research and investigation and not waiting for files.

He called for "finding solutions to eliminate this scourge through deterrent steps and decisive, and this thing has not seen so far not from the Council and not from others."

The parliament, for its part, began to move to reopen the amnesty law, which was approved three years ago in parliament, as it was saved involved in corruption.

"The general amnesty law passed by the previous parliament allowed many corrupt people to flee abroad, to evade their crimes against public funds and to harm the state as a result, without accountability," MP Hassan Shaker said.

He pointed out that "many of the paragraphs of this law require special amendment concerning the thieves of public money and corrupt," stressing that "the Parliamentary Integrity Committee is working to find a formula to amend the law in cooperation with the Legal Committee."

The decision of the Supreme Council for Combating Corruption, and the movement of amending the amnesty law to prevent corruption and to evade the responsibility of the executive and legislative branches to counter corruption.

The expert on the Iraqi issue, Adnan Omran, said that "the two directions represent a serious failure to confront corruption, as the Council and the Parliament are trying to take a certain action on the grounds that they are fighting and follow this file," noting that "the opening of old papers as the law of amnesty is the eagle Ash in the eyes , As the amnesty law was adopted at the previous session and can not be opened at the current session. "

He pointed out that "the majority of the political parties in the current government and the current parliament benefited from the law at the time, and protected the corrupt followers of their parties or political blocs or mafias belonging to them."

It is noteworthy that the Supreme Council for the fight against corruption, which includes officials and specialists headed by Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, is the fourth executive oversight body to combat corruption, after the Integrity Commission, the Office of Financial Supervision, and the offices of inspectors general in ministries, in addition to the control exercised by the House of Representatives As a regulatory body.

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