3 reasons behind it .. Al-Sudani is testing himself by declaring war on corruption
3 reasons behind it .. Al-Sudani is testing himself by declaring war on corruption
2022-11-09 10:57
Shafaq News/ The US “Al-Monitor” website presented, on Tuesday, three reasons why Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani puts fighting corruption at the top of his priorities in a country threatened with the collapse of its structures, wondering whether he will achieve success in this file, reminding at the same time that al-Sudani He was among the opponents of the Al-Diwani Security Committee 29 to combat corruption, which was established by his predecessor in the prime minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi.
The American report, translated by Shafak News Agency, recalled the beginning of excerpts from the first speech of the Sudanese before Parliament, in which he raised the slogan of fighting corruption and holding those involved accountable, saying that the corruption pandemic that affected all aspects of life is “more dangerous than the Corona virus”, and that it stands behind many problems. The economic situation weakens the prestige of the state and exacerbates poverty and unemployment, vowing to implement “firm policies and measures to combat rampant corruption.”
Former Finance Minister Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi previously announced that more than 250 billion dollars were looted between 2003 and 2020.
The first steps in the fight against corruption
However, the American report said that Al-Sudani moved quickly to take measures against corruption, as he dismissed the head of the Baghdad Investment Commission and handed his file to the Integrity Commission to investigate allegations of corruption, in addition to relieving the Director General of Investigations in the Commission of Integrity from his responsibilities due to his failure to take adequate measures about Tax issues, and referred to the judiciary for legal accountability.
The report mentioned that the Al-Kazemi government had announced last August that there were suspicions of a major corruption case amounting to about 3 billion dollars in the Ministry of Finance, which led to the dismissal of a general manager.
In addition, Al-Sudani, in his speech before Parliament, called for opening the oil smuggling file and revealed the involvement of one party without revealing details.
In addition to these measures, Al-Sudani announced the formation of a special anti-corruption committee to support the Integrity Commission.
The report indicated that this committee is similar to the “Diwani Security Committee 29″, known as the Abu Ragheef Committee, which was established by his predecessor Al-Kazemi, and Al-Sudani was at the time an opponent of it.
The report pointed out that Al-Kazemi formed the Anti-Corruption Committee according to understandings with the judiciary, and it was able to achieve some relatively satisfactory results, but it was dissolved with political motives and under judicial cover.
The report added that this raises questions about the success of future attempts to form similar committees for the purpose of combating corruption.
UN warning
And the United Nations Special Representative in Iraq, Jeanine Plaschaert, said recently, “Corruption is the biggest challenge facing Iraq and it impedes development and development” in the country, while Allawi, the former Minister of Finance, who resigned from his position on August 16 last, expressed In his lengthy resignation speech, he was shocked by the extent of the deterioration during the past 15 years, and the seizure of state resources by stakeholders.
According to the American website, Blackshart’s statement reflects the extent to which officials of diplomatic missions in Iraq are concerned about the collapse of the existing state structure, which has become highly fragile, in light of a series of scandals that affected politicians and senior officials.
A critical birth regionally and internationally
As for Al-Sudani, the report indicated that he put the issue of corruption at the top of his list of priorities, for several reasons.
On the first reason represented by the new prime minister’s endeavor to preserve the international support he received after forming his government, the report stated that the new government was born under critical conditions regionally and internationally, and that the Sudanese realizes that he cannot maintain international support unless he deals with corruption and holds politicians accountable. most corrupt.
As for the second reason, the report made it clear that the Sudanese need to present tangible and rapid results in order to win over the Iraqi people, and he also needs to build a popular base before the provincial elections scheduled for next year and the supposed parliamentary elections after three years, or perhaps even before that. .
Third, the report stated that Al-Sudani wants to reassure the highest Shiite authority in Najaf, represented by the religious authority, Sayyed Ali Al-Sistani, along with the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada Al-Sadr, noting that they have remained silent so far.
A slogan repeated by successive governments
However, the report pointed out that all successive Iraqi governments have been calling for the need to fight corruption, starting with Nuri al-Maliki who ruled for 8 years (2006-2014) to Haider al-Abadi (2014-2018) and then Adel Abdul Mahdi, who formed the Supreme Council for Combating Corruption, which He held about 20 sessions, but the results of his efforts, which were presented to the judiciary, were ambiguous, especially with regard to the fate of the accused, including ministers, governors and undersecretaries.
Al-Monitor’s report concluded by saying that under these circumstances, Al-Sudani faces many difficult challenges in his anti-corruption campaign because corruption deeply penetrates all the administrative and bureaucratic systems of the Iraqi government and through networks of patronage and partisan quotas.
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