A campaign of accusations against Muhammad al-Halbousi indicates the imminent removal of him from the presidency of the Iraqi parliament
A campaign of accusations against Muhammad al-Halbousi indicates the imminent removal of him from the presidency of the Iraqi parliament
10-24-2023
The intensity of the accusations directed against the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, of involvement in corruption may not indicate exceptional firmness in fighting corruption and a determination to hold the corrupt accountable, regardless of their positions in the state, as much as they represent evidence of the intensification of his differences with his political opponents, and that efforts to remove him from office have reached a decisive turning point.
Baghdad – Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, Muhammad al-Halbousi, faces a torrent of accusations ranging from his involvement in financial corruption cases, illicit communication with foreign parties, collusion with Kuwait in the Khor Abdullah case, working to abolish the Accountability and Justice Law, and advancing the general amnesty law with the aim of exonerating those wanted by justice and reintegrating them into life. Political.
While those close to Al-Halbousi say that all the charges against him are malicious and represent a tax on his prominence on the political scene, his opponents confirm that the charges against him are supported by documents and will make their way to the judiciary.
There was talk a few months ago about sharp disagreements between the Speaker of the House of Representatives, on the one hand, and the Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa al-Sudani, and the coordination framework behind his government, on the other hand, caused by the failure of the leaders of the framework to implement pledges towards Al-Halbousi and those close to him that they had made during the negotiations to form the government.
Political sources at the time spoke of efforts made by the Speaker of the House of Representatives with the aim of gathering the largest possible number of Sunni political figures and forces to establish a coordination framework in opposition to the framework composed of Shiite parties.
Al-Halbousi’s disagreements with the Shiite coordination framework led him to try to establish a counter-coordination framework composed of Sunni parties
The inflation of the wealth of Al-Halbousi and those close to him has become an exceptional focus and a motive for filing lawsuits against him.
Haider Al-Mulla, a member of the Azm Alliance, called on the Prime Minister and the Integrity Commission to take action to uncover “the source of the millions that the Speaker of Parliament spends on exaggerated displays of extravagance… and on his private planes on his trips.”
A document circulated in local media showed that the Integrity Commission sent a letter to the Anti-Money Laundering and Combating the Financing of Terrorism Office requesting information about the possession of Muhammad al-Halbousi and his two wives of real estate and bank accounts in both Jordan and Belarus.
The Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament had previously faced accusations related to deducting percentages from project funds in Anbar Governorate and receiving commissions in exchange for granting licenses to establish some projects.
Al-Halbousi’s opponents say that the man established a solid influence in the governorate in which he previously held the position of governor, by appointing his followers and relatives to important positions in various departments in Anbar.
In addition, Iraqi media outlets affiliated with Shiite forces, on Monday, linked the name of Al-Halbousi’s party to a corruption case in the Anbar Health Department. She said that committees from the Integrity Commission have begun looking into corruption files in the department related to forgery and obtaining huge sums of money illegally by leaders in the Taqadum Party headed by Muhammad al-Halbousi.
The Maalouma news website quoted a source in the authority as saying, “Integrity opened corruption files in the Anbar Health Department against the backdrop of employees’ confessions during their investigation that their colleagues in the concerned department were involved in forgery of the decisions of the medical committees and the correspondence of the Martyrs Foundation and the theft of medicines in large quantities from the stores of the governorate’s health directorate.” In addition to the case of the theft of bank instruments designated for the purchase of chronic disease medications.”
The source explained that most of those involved in the corruption files are leaders and members of the ruling party in Anbar, which is led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, explaining that large quantities of medicines disappeared almost more than a year ago without knowing their fate, which called on the integrity committees in Baghdad to open the corruption files and prosecute and refer those involved. To the judiciary.
Iraqi Parliament member Rafiq Al-Salhi Al-Halbousi called for disclosure of his financial assets, stressing the necessity of activating the Where Did You Get This Law, and considering that the Speaker of the House of Representatives is more worthy of applying the law to himself as the head of the legislative authority.
The charges against Al-Halbousi go beyond mere involvement in financial corruption cases to making illegal contacts with external parties and colluding with them against the highest interests of Iraq.
Recently, a storm of criticism arose against Al-Halbousi following his visit to Turkey and his meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara.
While those close to Al-Halbousi say that all the charges against him are malicious and represent a tax on his prominence on the political scene, his opponents assert that the charges against him are supported by documents.
The Al-Fatah Alliance, one of the components of the coordination framework, considered that this visit was part of a campaign led by the Speaker of the House of Representatives to mobilize regional support to repeal the Accountability and Justice Law, which aims, according to the coalition, to return members of the Baath Party to power.
Ali Al-Fatlawi, a leader in the Al-Fatah Alliance, said that Al-Halbousi “used his official address to request support for his project to return the Baathists to the political process by abolishing Article 25 of the Accountability and Justice Law.”
Political forces were not excluded in their demonization of Al-Halbousi and his betrayal of the charge of collusion with Kuwait in the Khor Abdullah case related to sharing the sea port on the waters of the Arabian Gulf, as the Iraqi judiciary recently canceled an agreement with the Kuwaiti side related to the sharing process.
Hussein Al-Karaawi, a member of the Rights Movement representing the Hezbollah Brigades in Iraq, said that the silence of the Speaker of Parliament regarding the Khor Abdullah file proves that there is collusion and receiving bribes in order to ignore this file at the expense of the interest of the Iraqi people.
Followers of the developments in the file of the Iraqi Speaker of Parliament say that the man’s involvement in corruption, if proven judicially, will not be an exceptional matter in the country that has lost hundreds of billions of dollars due to the corruption of its ruling class, but in return they do not exonerate his opponents, stressing that corruption files are often opened. Selectively to use it as a weapon to settle scores and remove political opponents by others who are no less corrupt.
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