Iraq parliament unable to play legislative role

Iraq’s former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi believes that the Iraqi parliament is incapable of playing its regulatory and legislative roles.

In an exclusive interview with Anadolu Agency, Allawi said recent graft accusations against the parliament speaker and withdrawal of confidence from the defense minister “show that the parliament is unable to control the situation”.

“The parliament is no longer able to fulfill its regulatory and legislative responsibilities,” he said.

Last month, the Iraqi parliament voted to oust Defense Minister Khaled al-Obeidi. The move came weeks after the minister accused parliament speaker Salim al-Jabouri and a number of MPs of allegedly requesting him to pay 2 million USD in bribes in return for not questioning him into corruption allegation. 

“Iraq’s political atmosphere has been marked by tension since 2013,” said Allawi, the head of al-Wataniya bloc, which has 21 seats on the 328-member parliament.

Iraq has been embroiled in a political crisis in recent months since firebrand Shia cleric Muqtada al-Sadr launched a wave of protests to pressure Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi to form a government of technocrats untainted by corruption or sectarian affiliations.

Allawi, who was a prime minister from 2004 to 2005, described al-Abadi as an “honest” person.

“His efforts to tackle thorny issues, however, are not enough,” he said.

Allawi opines that national reconciliation is the key to bringing political and security stability to Iraq.

“I believe in national reconciliation and Iraq will not enjoy stability without national reconciliation,” he said. 

Turkey ties

Allawi, who was a vice-president from 2014 to 2015, has criticized Iranian interference in the Iraqi affairs.

He recalled that his bloc had won the majority of seats in the 2010 parliamentary election. “However, we could not form a government and this was clearly because of Iran’s interference,” he said.

As for Iraq’s relations with Turkey, Allawi called for improving ties between the two countries.

“There is a mistake with the current [Iraqi] policies regarding Turkey,” he said.

He cited that Turkey had rejected the U.S. military intervention in Iraq in 2003 through Turkish territory.

“When we were in the opposition, Turkey opened its doors for us and granted us free access to Iraq’s Kurdistan region at a time when Iran never allowed this,” he said.