Exclusive: “Political veto” halts the interrogation of Al-Sudani's Government, Iraqi MP says
Shafaq News/ On Thursday, an Iraqi parliamentary member disclosed the presence of a "political veto" hindering the interrogation of ministers in Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani's government
Zuhair Al-Fatlawi, a member of the Ishraqat Kanoun parliamentary bloc, told Shafaq News Agency, “Questioning ministers and officials is a duty of members of the parliament and reflects the supervisory and legislative role of the Council.”
“Any deputy can collect 25 signatures from council members to question a minister in parliament.”
Al-Fatlawi confirmed that efforts are underway within the parliament to question several ministers through the collection of parliamentary signatures. “Requests have been submitted to interrogate the Minister of Electricity, the Minister of Transportation, the Minister of Communications, and the Executive Director of the Media and Communications Authority,” he confirmed.
He added, “Oral questions have also been directed to the Prime Minister and several ministers, with requests submitted separately by deputies from various political blocs.”
However, Al-Fatlawi clarified that the interrogation requests submitted to the House of Representatives' Presidency have encountered a "veto," causing the interrogations to be halted due to political pressures from various blocs.
Earlier, Iraq's parliamentary Transport Committee announced that signatures have been collected to summon Minister of Transport Razzaq Muhaybis for questioning over alleged corruption in several state-run companies under his ministry.
Al-Fatlawi highlighted that corruption allegations have surfaced in multiple contracts involving major state entities such as Iraqi Airways, the Ports Authority, and the State Company for Railways.
Notably, Iraq has moved up four positions in the global corruption rankings, ranking 153rd out of 180 countries in the 2023 Corruption Perceptions Index report. The country scored 23 out of 100 points, placing it 7th in the Arab region. Judge Haider Hanoun, head of the Integrity Commission emphasized the need for enhanced regional and international collaboration to combat corruption and pledged to implement measures to further improve Iraq's standing in future reports.
