She claimed that a team acting on behalf of Abdulwahid had installed cameras in villas and apartments where members of the party would stay from time to time, “so they could later use it to intimidate” those who had been filmed.
Nawzad’s accusation comes just three days after two other NGM MPs in the Iraqi legislature issued a public statement, decrying what they claimed to be a culture of cronyism within the party's main leadership, primary among them Abdulwahid.
Lawmakers Raboun Ma’ruf and Sarkawt Shamsadin said in the joint-letter that they were being “marginalized” from all “important decision-making” within their party, adding that the NGM “has been mixed with family and business in such a way that separating them is difficult.”
A day later, half of the party’s bloc in the Kurdistan Region including Nawzad voiced support for their colleagues’ rebuke in Baghdad.
Abdulwahid responded to both statements on social media without specifically addressing the claims against him.
”We trusted them,” he wrote. ”We were with them as dear friends. Unfortunately, these days, only through money and posts do you find your true friends."
On Wednesday, Shamsadin reiterated this position along with denouncing the alleged attempt on Nawzad’s reputation in a tweet, writing, “Absolutely disgusting. I am more confident that we are on the right path by standing up against these disgraceful actions.”
The current scandal, especially when combined with the level of party support for the recent criticism directed at Abdulwahid, suggests a significant and growing crack within the year-old political movement.
Editing by John J. Catherine