The Iraqis were divided over the calls of some politicians to conclude deals with the corrupt figures, who stole project funds and operational budgets in the country, which represent the return of up to 90% of the stolen funds in exchange for dropping all international lawsuits and prosecutions against them.
The size of corruption in Iraq is estimated at about $ 300 billion, as more than 4 thousand projects were halted, according to the Ministry of Planning, as a result of the theft of funds allocated to them after withdrawing financial advances without any significant action or very limited achievement.
Iraq ranks 162 out of 180 countries in Transparency International's corruption indicators, and it is the sixth in the Arab world, and corruption is rampant in it despite its possession of oversight bodies, including the Supreme Council for Combating Corruption, the Integrity Commission, Parliamentary Integrity Committee, the Office of Financial Supervision, the Public Prosecution office, as well as the offices of public inspectors. Which was canceled last year by a parliamentary decision.
Iraq has witnessed large demonstrations since 2011 until now, calling for fighting corruption, but the matter is still without radical solutions, and there is no political desire to fight it. Because most of the rampant corruption in Iraq is covered politically.
Proposal details
A member of the Parliamentary Finance Committee, Jamal Cougar, recently presented a proposal to return the stolen Iraqi funds represented by returning 90% of it to the state treasury in exchange for dropping the charges against them. He said, "Returning the stolen money is a correct path that we support, in case there are serious steps from the government regarding this file, provided that It bears an actual confirmation from those accused of stealing public money by returning 80 to 90 percent of the money in their possession to the state treasury. "
Cougar explained that "returning the defendants the bulk of the money they have in order to drop the charges brought against them is a sign of regret they feel," noting that "the matter remains dependent on the defendants' intention to return the money to the state treasury."
But this proposal has faced a torrent of criticism from specialists in the issue of integrity, as it is a lifeline for the corrupt and the waste of great efforts by institutions that fight corruption in Iraq.
The Prime Minister, Mustafa Al-Kazemi, responded to this invitation, during his visit to America, specifically when he met with businessmen, saying that the government had held talks with a number of international legal institutions to track down the corrupt and corruption deals and hold responsibility for anyone who tampered with state funds, explaining that the government is working to reconsider the legislation To fill the loopholes that allow the corrupt to exploit.
Iraq has become a repellent environment for investors because of the rampant corruption in the joints of the state, and the investor is exposed to extortion and death threats if he does not give money to some political, partisan and armed parties.
Contrary to common sense
A member of the Parliamentary Integrity Committee, Jawad Al-Saadi, commented on this invitation, saying to Al-Jazeera Net that it represents support for and defense of money thieves, and is not a rational logic to fight corruption, indicating that the stolen money is the property of all Iraqis, and not the property of this person or a specific political party, and therefore must They are all returned, and the corrupt is punished.
Al-Saadi noted that the Integrity Committee referred 10 days ago, corruption files to the competent authorities related to the waste of public money, indicating that corruption is a major scourge that harms the country and that everyone should support the competent authorities to eliminate them.
On the other hand, the head of the Al-Nahrain Foundation to Support Transparency and Integrity in Iraq, Muhammad Rahim, said in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that the goal behind launching these calls is to return the funds that were withheld from the corrupt in other countries to Iraq, and then stole them from the Iraqi state again under political pressure. , Stressing that this is a method of manipulation practiced by some corrupt parties in Iraq.
He indicated that some electronic armies have recently begun to support this trend, considering that the corrupt’s acquisition of 10% means millions of dollars of the stolen money, explaining that this call needs legal legislation, especially since the government has a strong will to fight corruption and work to recover these funds.