Baghdad economist, parliament media office in legal dispute over spending claims

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Economist Nabil El-Mersumi and the Iraqi Parliament’s media office were involved in a legal dispute in Baghdad on Wednesday, June 3, 2026, after remarks made in a television interview. El-Mersumi said he would file an official lawsuit over language used by the parliament to describe him. The parliament’s media office said the financial figures El-Mersumi had recently shared were completely fabricated. It said the institution employs far fewer than the 12,500 staff members cited by the economist and that salaries are paid according to the standard scales in the civil service law. The parliament also said it had begun legal proceedings against El-Mersumi in courts on charges of defamation and damaging the legislature’s reputation. El-Mersumi said his figures were based on official state documents. He said a 551 billion Iraqi dinar allocation in the 2025 budget covered oversight bodies linked to parliament, and argued that dividing that amount by the number of employees produced an average monthly payment of 3.6 million dinars. He also said the average monthly salary at the presidency was 2.5 million dinars.