Iraqi Finance Minister Ali Abdul Amir Allawi refused to appear before Parliament after receiving a summons to discuss the exchange rate of the dinar against the dollar from Hakim Al-Zamili, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, in an angry letter Allawi sent - yesterday, Friday - to Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi.
Allawi's summons came after a tweet by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, regarding the dollar exchange rate, and the minister commented on this that the state's administration is not through tweets.
Allawi considered that summoning him is unacceptable and should not be tolerated, "whether for the dignity of the government, my dignity as a minister, or my personal dignity and the dignity of my family."
Allawi added, "This government is not responsible to any political party, it is only responsible to the Iraqi people through its elected parliament."
He described his recent summons as the outrageous interference in the government function by political parties, refusing to give up the independence of the government as the executive arm of the state, considering summoning the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives outside his powers.
"I refuse to run the government through tweets from political leaders," he commented.
In the letter, Allawi defended himself as Minister of Finance by saying, "I worked in very difficult circumstances for nearly two years, and I believe that I succeeded in managing the country's financial affairs and taking care of the economy towards a degree of safety."
On the exchange rate adjustment, Allawi explained - in his letter - that he had to take many difficult decisions, including the decision to amend the exchange rate, noting that he had the support of the international community, the Council of Ministers, the Central Bank of Iraq and political parties in two separate meetings with party leaders, and agreed It was approved by the House of Representatives in February 2021.
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— Muqtada al-Sayyid Muhammad al-Sadr (@Mu_AlSadr) February 17, 2022
He pointed out that he made it clear then that the costs of adjusting the currency will be immediate, but the benefits will appear in the medium and long term.
In his message, Allawi said that he is ready to defend his position and his economic and financial policy before the House of Representatives as a whole and not before a specific parliamentary faction.
He added that he would ask the Speaker of Parliament to vote on his performance in the government, giving him one hour to explain his policies to the parliament before the vote takes place.
He concluded by saying that he appreciates the Sadrist movement's support for him in voting for him to be Minister of Finance for his candidacy two years ago, but he refuses to be treated lightly by the leader of a major political party as one of his followers, and the party has no right to "address me as a servant at their request and invitation."