The waste of public money and the loss of the Iraqi budget did not have a single form, as this phenomenon has come to several forms in different ways and in roundabout ways, the most prominent of which - according to observers and experts - the astronomical fictional salaries for the three presidencies mainly, ministers, members of parliament and other special ranks.

The years after the US invasion of Iraq in 2003 recorded several pages in the record of corruption of the ruling political class, its waste of public money, the appropriation of people and state funds and their adherence to their positions and privileges, and the monopoly of their families and those close to them for government positions and jobs with financial and moral privileges.

Social media discussed the case of former President of the Republic Ghazi Ajil Al-Yawar and the Court of Cassation's objection to his request regarding the decision to suspend his retirement salary under the Unified Pension Law of 2014.

The monthly pension salary for Yawar - according to what was circulated by those sites - 61 million and 680 thousand Iraqi dinars (about 51 thousand US dollars), and the total pension salaries that he received for 19 years from the beginning of 2004 to the end of 2019 cost the state budget about 11 billion Iraqi dinars about (9 million) And $ 596,000), in addition to the salaries of protections and other allocations.

The Iraqi Parliament has so far failed to address the phenomenon of high salaries of state officials (Reuters)

Political trade

The problem of the Iraqi people, despite the widespread corruption in state institutions and its various sectors, lies in their belief that the official privileges of higher special ranks in the state are the gain that politicians fight for, but the matter differs outside the limelight.

The political trade of the position increases in the Iraqi state whenever it holds a higher position in the government, and becomes possessed of several outlets for profit trade.

As political analyst Ibrahim Al-Sumaida’i sees, saying that the total salaries and allowances for special grades combined are large in number.

Iraq maintains the highest number of employees of special ranks in the world compared to the number of residents with the rank of director general and above in civilian jobs, and a military general with the rank of brigadier general and above in military posts, ranking advanced globally in terms of the high numbers of these salaries.

Nevertheless, this phenomenon does not constitute an estimated 0.06% in the state's official budget, but the sources of the extreme wealth that the political class and its senior employees got - according to Al-Sumaida’i - were never official salaries and allowances, although Americans were granted the highest salaries in the world upon their founding. The political system after the US invasion of the country in 2003, stressing that it exceeded in the presidencies, their deputies, and some security ministries an amount of one million dollars a month.

Al-Sumaida’i compares the higher sovereign positions to general contracting (Al-Jazeera)

General Contracting

The extreme wealth of the political class came from the exploitation of state resources through government centers to obtain commissions exceeding millions of dollars per month, and the numbers may reach billions of dollars.

The late Iraqi economic politician Ahmed Chalabi indicated that one public company under the management of a general manager in the Ministry of Trade had embezzled at least two billion dollars in one year and in one substance, which is edible oil, by the end of 2010 !!

Al-Sumaidaie likened the higher sovereign positions as being more like "general contracting", stressing that they generate billions of dollars in revenue per session through corruption and abuse of power.

Al-Sumaidaie warns that the state is on the verge of economic collapse after the problem of paying the salaries of employees, whose number is the largest in the world compared to the number of the population, is the most important problem due to the large financial deficit following the decline in oil prices, which constitute more than 95% of the budget, and the failure of all oil revenues to reach a barrier. Half of the public payroll amounts only.

"How can this state manage its affairs with the approaching end of the oil era and the disappearance of industrial, agricultural and investment activity almost completely from the state's economic map?"

The President of the Republic receives a monthly salary of (50 million dinars) in addition to 40 million allowances and hospitality, equivalent to 73 thousand dollars, so that what he receives annually is 876 thousand dollars, and in 4 years it reaches 3 million and 504 thousand dollars.

As for the Prime Minister and his deputies, they receive 40 million Iraqi dinars in addition to 20 million allowances and hospitality, so the monthly total is about $ 65,000, and annually about $ 780,000, and within 4 years, $ 3 million and 120,000.

The Speaker of Parliament receives 35 million Iraqi dinars with him 20 million allowances and hospitality per month, so the monthly total is 55 million Iraqi dinars, equivalent to about 44 thousand dollars, and approximately 528 thousand dollars annually, and within 4 years it reaches 2 million and 112 thousand dollars.

As for the ministers, their monthly salaries amount to 20 million Iraqi dinars, in addition to 15 million allowances and hospitality, so the total monthly is 35 million Iraqi dinars, equivalent to 28 thousand dollars, and annually 336 thousand dollars, and within 4 years about one million and 344 thousand dollars, according to the means Iraqi media.

Al-Shamaa believes that corruption is rampant in Iraq, and money is lost for both Geb and Bear (Al Jazeera)

The roots of corruption

The origin of corruption in Iraq began with the allocation of high and imaginative salaries that the rulers granted for themselves with monthly benefits and allocations, such as the example mentioned by former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi when he was Vice President of the Republic that he receives one million dollars a month, which is not his salary, but additional allocations.

There is no country in the world that allocates such astronomical salaries to its officials like Iraq, according to the economist Dr.

Hammam Al-Shamaa, saying to Al-Jazeera Net that the duties of the President of the Republic are an honorary protocol and that his deputies do not have a duty, but they receive fantastic monthly salaries with allocations and benefits, not to mention the number of protection personnel, vehicles they occupy and their expenses.

And the Iraqi state has about 5,000 general managers, up from other job ranks, and this clearly indicates the waste of the budget in general, and when these practices began - as Shamma sees - corruption began to spread in the state and money became lost for both people.

It is not reasonable for the beneficiary to try to change the situation in order to be harmed. We rarely find people or officials sacrificing their personal interests and privileges for the sake of the public good, and the root of the problem lies in the system and not in the people.

According to Al-Shammaa's response to a question by Al-Jazeera Net about the reasons for the inability of Parliament and the government to address the phenomenon of high salaries for state officials, describing it as the door through which waste and financial and administrative corruption enter.

And the head of the Iraqi Financial Supervision Bureau, Salah Nouri, had revealed in an interview with him the existence of what he described as "major breaches" - in the retirement of senior officials such as members of the National Assembly, the Governing Council and the House of Representatives for all previous sessions and former ministers - that resulted in financial waste of 53 billion Iraqi dinars (about 78 million dollars), after the House of Representatives mandated the Bureau of Financial Supervision to audit the pensions of all former employees after 2003.