Masrour Barzani claims corruption reduced a ‘great deal’ in Iraqi Kurdistan

2019-11-21 00:00:00 - Source: Iraq News

Iraqi Kurdistan PM Masrour Barzani, Duhok, November 20, 2019. Photo: Masrour Barzani/AUK/twitter

DUHOK, Iraq’s Kurdistan region,— Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) has managed to reduce corruption significantly in the Kurdish region, Prime Minister Masrour Barzani claimed on Wednesday.

Speaking at the American University of Kurdistan in Duhok as part of the Middle East Peace and Security Forum, Barzani said the KRG has completely stopped bribery and the use of relationships to unfairly influence bureaucratic procedures.

“We have managed to reduce corruption…a great deal. There’s already been some progress,” he added.

For many years, transparency organizations, lawmakers, and international organizations have accused senior KRG officials of corruption, especially with regard to expropriation of the Kurdistan’s oil income. The government has long promised action to combat graft, but has never made much headway.

There have been few, if any, high-level corruption prosecutions resulting in substantive penalties recently that would back up Barzani’s assertions of progress against systemic abuse.

Transparency International ranks Iraq, including the Kurdistan region, 168 out of 180 on its Corruption Perception Index. In a report on the Kurdistan region, the watchdog notes that corruption has deep roots in the governance system.

“Corruption challenges are rooted in the strong role that the two established political parties have in the political system, nepotism, a weak bureaucratic governance system, and the task to ensure proper use of oil revenues,” it said in a summary.

Only this week, Barzani’s office was forced to deny allegations published in a US magazine that a limited liability company linked to his family had purchased two mansions in Beverly Hills for $47 million.

In another section of his remarks, Barzani said that the KRG is “heavily” focused on developing the region’s agriculture, industry, and tourism sectors in an attempt shift the economy away from its historic reliance on oil.

“We are looking at diversifying our economy so that we will not only be dependent on [oil sales],” he said.

The KRG is planning to attract foreign investors to the Kurdistan region and convince local entrepreneurs to invest in projects at home, he added.

“When you have a strong economy: it means you have more jobs, it means you have more salaries, it means you have a better way of living, and that leads to political stability,” he continued.

“We want to build a stronger Kurdistan. A stronger Kurdistan means better security, better economy, better political understanding or stability in the region.”

Regarding services, the prime minister said the KRG’s agenda is designed to serve the people.

“The government should serve the people, not the other way round. We are not here to impose ideas on people, we are here to serve people.”

Kurdistan considered as the most corrupted part of Iraq. According to Kurdish lawmakers and leaked documents billions of dollars are missing from Iraqi Kurdistan’s oil revenues.

The ruling Barzani clan control a large number of commercial enterprises and involved in oil business in Iraqi Kurdistan, with a gross value of several billion US dollars, according to observers.

The Barzanis have been routinely accused by critics of amassing huge wealth from oil business for the family instead of serving the population. KDP party leader and ex-president Massoud Barzani remains the most powerful leader in the shadow according to analysts. Massoud’s son Masrour is the Kurdistan region’s prime minister and his nephew Nechirvan Barzani is president of Kurdistan.

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