Iraqi cabinet approves PM Abadi’s reform package – spokesman

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called for the immediate cancellation of two key state positions of vice president and deputy prime minister as part of a comprehensive reform plan aimed at fighting corruption.

Iraq’s prime minister announced on Sunday a series of drastic anti-corruption measures after weeks of protests against poor government services threatened to challenge his rule.

On Friday, Iraqi people staged protests in a number of cities against alleged graft among government officials and the shortage of electricity and water.

“The thieves robbed us”, they chanted long into the evening.

Several thousand people have demonstrated in Baghdad against rampant corruption and the abysmal electricity services that plague Iraq, calling for officials to be held to account.

Protesters also turned out in Nasiriyah, south of Baghdad, to air similar grievances, an AFP journalist said.

Shortly after Abadi’s announcement, Abdel-Sattar al-Bairaqdar, spokesman for the judicial authority in Iraq, said prosecutors ordered an investigation into charges against Deputy Prime Minister Bahaa al-Araji, al-Sumaria television reported without elaboration.

Abadi, a moderate Shi’ite Islamist who has sought reconciliation between Sunnis and Shi’ites, has struggled to build broad political support for meaningful reform.

The country’s powerful Shiite militias – whose political influence has grown as they overtake the Iraqi army in the fight against the Islamic State – also threw their weight behind Friday’s protests.

Mr Al Abadi’s plan would also reduce spending on personal bodyguards for officials and transfer the responsibility to the interior and defence ministries, which would have their budgets expanded.

Iraq’s system of sharing out authorities posts alongside sectarian strains has lengthy been criticized for selling unqualified candidates and permitting corruption.

The protesters represented mixed political and religious affiliations, with organizers saying that about 75 percent were liberals, communists, independent, or linked to various youth groups. Professional syndicates were on hand, with the members of the lawyers syndicate marching in their judicial robes through the square demanding basic human rights.

When Abadi was named premier a year ago, he vowed to form a government based on efficiency and integrity.

Reform was the promise on which Haider al-Abadi was brought to power to replace his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, whose policies alienated many Iraqis, especially Sunni Muslims.

While the plunge in oil prices and the battle against Islamic State militants are depleting the government’s coffers, many Iraqis say corruption is compounding the nation’s economic woes.