Prime Minister of Iraq Mustafa Al-Kadhimi addresses the 77th session of the United Nations General Assembly at U.N. headquarters, Friday, Sept. 23, 2022.
photo: AP /Jason DeCrow
Iraqi Prime Minister Mustafa Kazemi and his cabinet ministers will be banned from traveling after a new government is formed, Coordination Framework leader Jamal Hassan said.
Speaking to Al-Rafidain News, Coordination Framework leader Jamal Hassan said, "Successive Iraqi governments have made a big mistake in the fight against corruption because they did not issue decisions to prevent the travel of prime ministers, ministers, directors, and cabinet officials involved in corruption."
Most senior Iraqi officials, including the President and Prime minister, possess second citizenship and would move to their second destination after their official duties are over in Iraq.
The cases involve ministers, directors, and officials who have traveled abroad without being held accountable after finishing their duties; most of them possess foreign citizenships that make it very difficult to return looted cash to Iraq, Hassan explained.
Hassan said the Coordination Framework currently discusses avoiding past mistakes, barring officials from traveling, and banning Kadhimi and his cabinet ministers from traveling after the formation of the new Iraqi government.
"Making such a decision is very plausible, and we hope to implement it to overcome the mistakes of previous governments and contribute to reducing any corruption and preventing any loophole through which those accused of corruption can travel abroad," Hassan added.
Iraq leads global corruption perception indices and scores worse year after year. Even though various anti-corruption committees are established to fight corruption, and many corruption scandals have been revealed, corrupt officials usually leave office without a scratch.