ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – A political party in Iraq's disputed province of Kirkuk on Thursday called for an investigation into local officials that he claimed were selling positions and contracts for new projects in the city.
Wasfi al-Assi, head of the United Arab Front, asked in a press conference for the Iraqi Commission of Integrity to look into allegations that government posts were being “auctioned,” and to “complete the city’s plans with trusted, reliable companies instead of the old ones.”
“Officials in Kirkuk talk about the public’s best interest, but all they care about is filling their pockets,” he continued, saying, “The people of Iraq have lost faith, and there is no official or political entity not being corrupted that we can trust with our problems.”
He did not offer evidence of his claims but said he was conveying “the pulse of the street.” Assi told journalists gathered, “This is what is being said about the appointments. Officials must prove the opposite.”
On Aug. 19, the Iraqi parliament announced that it had stripped a lawmaker of his legal immunity as he faced charges of corruption and extortion.
Read More: After being stripped of immunity, MP claims Iraqi speaker abused his power
Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi was responsible for making the decision, according to a statement signed by him and directed to Iraq's Higher Judicial Council (HJC).
The MP, Talal Zubaie, is himself the former chairman of parliament's Integrity Committee.
Halbousi’s move came at the request of the HJC in late July. The statement claimed that parliament had received several “corruption” complaints against Zobaie while he was heading the Integrity Committee in the previous term.
Successive Iraqi federal governments have failed to effectively confront the nation's rampant corruption. The current administration, which ran on a reformist platform, continues to struggle to address the widespread mismanagement of public funds while facing strong resistance to such efforts from within its own institutions.
The embattled Middle Eastern nation continues to rank high on integrity watchdog Transparency International’s list for corruption, fraud, and mismanagement of state institutions, some of the most significant challenges facing the country since the fall of the former regime in 2003.
According to the organization’s 2018 Corruption Index, Iraq ranks 168th, the 12th most corrupt country out of a total of 180.
Editing by John J. Catherine