Facing widespread protests against government corruption and poor services as well as calls for change by Shiite clerics, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi on Sunday proposed a series of drastic reforms that could be a turning point in the dysfunctional politics of Iraq that have persisted since the U.S. invasion in 2003.
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They included the elimination of three vice-presidency positions, largely ceremonial jobs that come with expensive perks, and the end of sectarian and party quotas that have dominated the appointments of top officials.
Iraq’s solution of discussing out authorities posts along sectarian outline is actually criticized for promotion not qualified aspirants and enabling problem.
Shortly after Abadi’s announcement, Abdel-Sattar al-Bairaqdar, spokesman for the judicial authority in Iraq, stated prosecutors ordered an investigation into costs towards Deputy Prime Minister Bahaa al-Araji, al-Sumaria tv reported with out elaboration.
He also called for the creation of a committtee of judges to investigate cases of corruption within state institutions.
Al-Maliki, who served as prime minister from 2006 until the middle of last year, was widely accused of monopolizing power.
The mass demonstrations even include Iraq’s Shiite majority, from which the government draws most of its support. On Friday, tens of thousands of Iraqis demonstrated across the country and in the capital, Baghdad, against dishonest leaders they say have plundered public wealth and neglected the country’s war-battered infrastructure. A 2013 United Nations report found that half a million Iraqi citizens paid 1.9 million bribes to civil servants over the course of a year, mostly for power and water services.
A year after assuming office following the Islamic State group’s rapid advance across northern and western Iraq, al-Abadi is still struggling to combat and roll back the extremist group.
“The winners from those airstrikes are the Kurds, not the Iraqi fighters who are battling the Islamic State group militants in Salahuddin and Anbar provinces”, said Hadi Jalu, an analyst who is also president of the Journalistic Freedom Observatory.
“I am here to support Abadi to go ahead in his campaign to make reforms and carry out our demands”, Mohammed Mahmood, a 26-year-old protestor who was videoing his friends while they were chanting and waving Iraqi flags in Tahrir Square. The Shiite religious leaders in the holy city of Najaf quickly backed the protest movement, which seemed to emerge from a grass-roots effort rather than a political party, forcing al-Abadi to act.
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The most dramatic step was Abadi’s pledge to immediately abolish the post of his predecessor and political rival, Nouri al-Maliki. It remains unclear how much support the plan will receive from the country’s political parties.
