Iraq parliament OKs Abadi corruption plan

Iraq’s parliament voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s reform package, Speaker Saleem al-Jabouri said during a session broadcast live on state television.

People shouting slogans during a demonstration to show support for Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi at Tahrir Square in central Baghdad.

Iraq’s parliament voted overwhelmingly Tuesday to back a package of measures aimed at stamping out corruption and government overspending, opening the way for the biggest overhaul of the country’s political system since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

On Monday, Mr Abadi’s anti-corruption drive claimed its first scalp, with the resignation of Baha al-Araji, one of Iraq’s three deputy prime ministers.

Several ministries will be combined to eliminate cabinet posts: the planning and finance ministries will be merged, water will be combined with agriculture and the environment will be combined with health. Abadi seemed to acknowledge that he was taking a chance by eliminating jobs, salaries, and perks, including the security details provided to many officials.

Sweeping reforms would also be made to the judicial system to encourage corruption investigations.

Promises of reform followed mass protests on the streets of Baghdad, with Iraqis railing against the poor quality of state-provided services.

But he said that a complementary plan containing even more reforms was needed, and that Al Abadi should sack ministers who are guilty of negligence and corruption. The government is now faced with the challenge of implementing the reforms.

The anti-corruption drive will be carried out without favour, including within his party, Abadi said.

The plan further sidelines Vice President Nouri al-Maliki, al-Abadi’s predecessor who was widely blamed for inflaming sectarian tensions and staffing the military with underqualified supporters, paving the way for the Islamic State group’s rapid advance across northern and western Iraq past year.

“They will try to sabotage each step we take”.

“We are witnessing the end of the post-2003 Iraq”, Maria Fantappie, Iraq analyst for the global Crisis Group, told The New York Times.

In his sermon last Friday, Ayatollah Sistani urged Abadi to make appointments based on ability rather than party or sectarian affiliation.

In addition to Maliki, two other figures who have been prominent since Saddam Hussein was overthrown will now be out of government: Nujaifi and Ayad Allawi, a Shi’ite former prime minister whose Sunni-dominated bloc won the most parliamentary seats in the 2010 national election.