THE IRAQI PARLIAMENT ASSERTS ITSELF ON THE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BAGHDAD 001308 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/18/2019 TAGS: PGOV KCOR KDEM IZ SUBJECT: THE IRAQI PARLIAMENT ASSERTS ITSELF ON THE ANTI-CORRUPTION DOSSIER REF: A. BAGHDAD 1224 AND PREVIOUS ¶B. BAGHDAD 1235 Classified By: ACCO Joseph Stafford, reason 1.4 (b and d) THE COUNCIL OF REPRESENTATIVES EXERCISES OVERSIGHT ROLE -------------- -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Iraq's parliamentary body, The Council of Representatives (COR),exercised its oversight responsibility vis-a-vis the executive branch regarding the anti-corruption dossier by subjecting embattled Trade Minister Abd Al-Falah Al-Sudani to tough questioning (see reftel for background on corruption allegations surrounding the Trade Ministry). In what the media billed as the COR's first-ever questioning of a minister over corruption, Al-Sudani appeared before the COR for two consecutive sessions, May 16-17. Al-Sudani had defied past requests from the COR to appear for questioning; our sources indicate that the decision to accede to the latest request stemmed at least in part from a desire to blunt pressure for his removal from some COR members. TOUGH QUESTIONING -------------- ¶2. (C) In accordance with COR procedures, the questioning was conducted entirely by the COR member who had originated the petition for the Minister's appearance, COR Integrity Committee head Sheikh Sabah Al-Saedi. A long-time critic of Al-Sudani, Sheikh Sabah pressed him repeatedly to respond to an array of allegations, many centering on corruption surrounding the Ministry's implementation of the nationwide food ration program, the Public Distribution System (PDS). The Minister's responses to the allegations were generally vague and unconvincing, and at the conclusion Sheikh Sabah said he was "not satisfied" and would propose Al-Sudani's removal via the "withdrawal of confidence" procedure under the constitution. (COMMENT: The constitution provides for the removal of a minister via absolute majority vote in the COR. Our sources, however, rule out Sheikh Sabah's obtaining the required support within the COR for Minister Al-Sudani's removal. For one thing, we are told, while his standing with Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki has declined of late due to the corruption allegations engulfing the Ministry -- resulting so far in the arrest of a brother of the Minister, among others -- the Prime Minister is opposed to Al-Sudani's removal; in addition, Al-Maliki's Da'wa party (with which the Minister is loosely affiliated) has sufficient clout in the COR to prevent it. END COMMENT) MORE QUESTIONING OF MINISTERS? -------------- ¶3. (SBU) Amidst Trade Minister Al-Sudani's questioning, several COR members stated that other Ministers would also be asked to appear before the COR for questioning on corruption issues, among them the Defense and Interior Ministers. On May 18, Defense Minister Abd Al-Qadir Mohammed Al-Ubaidi and Interior Minister Jawad Al-Bulani duly appeared. However, the questioning was conducted behind closed doors following the Defense Minister's initial statement on the general security situation and budget shortfalls. We are seeking readouts on just what issues were covered in the closed-door questioning, but our sense at this point is that security issues, not corruption allegations, were the focus of these Ministers' questioning. COMMENT -------------- ¶4. (C) The COR's exercise of its oversight responsibility via the unprecedented questioning of the Trade Minister is a "good news story" in terms of anti-corruption efforts in Iraq. To be sure, the COR has far to go in terms of developing its oversight capacity in the area of anti-corruption as well as in numerous other areas. Nonetheless, its success in getting the Trade Minister to QNonetheless, its success in getting the Trade Minister to appear and endure two days of tough questioning is a noteworthy achievement. At the same time, Prime Minister Al-Maliki's heightened profile of late on anti-corruption issues (ref b) may well have led him to insist that the Trade Minister accede to the COR's request to appear in order to continue burnishing his (Al-Maliki's) anti-corruption credentials. END COMMENT HILL