Lawmaker: PM order shields security chiefs from parliament

Shafaq News- Dhi Qar

An Iraqi lawmaker revealed on Sunday that an order now bars parliament from summoning any security official without the prime minister's approval, a requirement that “has weakened the legislature's ability to hold the security forces to account.”

Abdullah al-Khaikani, a member of parliament for the southern province of Dhi Qar, told Shafaq News that parliament had been unable to summon the Dhi Qar provincial police chief, Major General Najah al-Abedi. The block, he said, followed a letter from the office of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, a post held by Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi, instructing that no security commander appear before parliament without the prime minister's prior approval.

The requirement, according to al-Khaikani, has prevented parliament from following up on alleged abuses within security institutions.

Al-Khaikani said parliament's Security and Defense Committee had received a file detailing alleged violations by al-Abedi, including actions that “led to the accidental deaths of four people.” He tied those deaths to the pressure the police chief placed on officers in the field.

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