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SEPTEMBER 2022

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IRAQ TODAY<br />

Unease in the Middle East:<br />

Iraq’s political crisis explained<br />

BY CAL ABBO<br />

Muqtada al-Sadr<br />

Iraq is in the midst of its worst political<br />

crisis since the U.S. invasion in<br />

2003 and the execution of Saddam<br />

Hussein in 2006.<br />

The famous cleric and political figure<br />

Muqtada al-Sadr has disrupted the<br />

government for months now. It all began<br />

ten months ago, when Iraq elected<br />

a new parliament that was supposed<br />

to form a government. Al-Sadr’s bloc<br />

won a strong plurality of votes, but his<br />

political rivals refused to acknowledge<br />

his win and participate.<br />

In June, al-Sadr directed his entire<br />

bloc to resign from parliament, which<br />

resulted in 73 vacant seats that were<br />

filled in the interim mostly by an alliance<br />

of Iran-backed parties. Since the<br />

resignation and subsequent appointments,<br />

the country has been rocked<br />

by popular protests and calls for a new<br />

election by many in the Sadrist camp.<br />

This year in Iraq has been a particularly<br />

bad one with regard to the<br />

economy and standard of living. Iraq’s<br />

water supply, which is affected by the<br />

third consecutive year of drought, has<br />

also suffered at the hands of countries<br />

reducing water flow in the Tigris and<br />

Euphrates.<br />

Its power supply, which is notoriously<br />

problematic, has been affected<br />

by the intense summer heat and excessive<br />

demand. This summer is one of<br />

Iraq’s hottest on record.<br />

These issues are difficult to address<br />

for an interim parliament that<br />

is without an official government. In<br />

this political crisis, the parliament<br />

is limited in what it can do because<br />

Corruption is an<br />

extraordinary issue<br />

in Iraq. Almost daily<br />

it seems there is<br />

news about another<br />

corruption scandal<br />

having to do with the<br />

government.<br />

it first has to solve months-old disputes<br />

over the election.<br />

Protests have also penetrated<br />

inside the Green Zone, the district<br />

where most government business<br />

PHOTO BY THOMAS KOCH<br />

in Baghdad is conducted. The protestors,<br />

who are part of the Sadrist<br />

movement, continue to emphasize<br />

they are fighting against corruption<br />

and to help the poorer districts in<br />

Iraq that are struggling with food<br />

and water.<br />

Corruption is an extraordinary issue<br />

in Iraq. Almost daily it seems there<br />

is news about another corruption<br />

scandal having to do with the government.<br />

Those in al-Sadr’s camp claim<br />

to be firmly opposed to corruption and<br />

there are some reforms in the movement’s<br />

platform that would reduce it.<br />

On the other hand, while many political<br />

figures have promised to remedy<br />

the problem, little has changed in the<br />

last two decades.<br />

The former president of Iraq, Barham<br />

Salih, said in 2021 that $150 billion<br />

of oil money had been stolen<br />

and smuggled out of Iraq since the<br />

U.S. invasion in 2003. Among political<br />

analysts, Iraq is surely considered<br />

one of the most corrupt countries on<br />

the planet. Petty corruption, which<br />

involves low-level administrators taking<br />

small bribes, is almost expected<br />

in certain aspects of the public-facing<br />

government.<br />

In June, Iraq’s anti-corruption<br />

commission exposed a massive scandal<br />

in which 41 people misappropriated<br />

nearly $700 million in public<br />

funds through forgery, embezzlement,<br />

manipulation, and money laundering.<br />

Iraq’s economy relies heavily on cash,<br />

which has made this type of corruption<br />

simple and low risk.<br />

In addition, earlier in August,<br />

Iraq’s finance minister Ali Allawi announced<br />

his resignation from political<br />

office. This decision, he said in a letter,<br />

is the direct result of the political<br />

crisis. The government, his letter said,<br />

has made exceptional achievements<br />

regarding development and progress.<br />

The current situation, however, leaves<br />

the government “shackled by a power<br />

struggle.”<br />

14 CHALDEAN NEWS <strong>SEPTEMBER</strong> <strong>2022</strong>

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