Iraqi lawmaker says foreign pressure is shielding corrupt figures

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A member of Iraq's parliament, Falah al-Khafaji of the State of Law Coalition, said state resources remain under the control of economic committees tied to political parties and that anti-corruption efforts must reach the leaders of political blocs and senior party figures. Speaking in a parliamentary address, al-Khafaji alleged that a phantom project worth 7 trillion dinars had been awarded in the Middle Euphrates electricity sector without any corresponding work on the ground. He also pointed to officials owning luxury residences and villas worth billions of dinars, and said that stashing stolen funds inside house walls and on farms pointed to an organized scheme rather than isolated acts of graft. Al-Khafaji described directors-general, deputies and ministers as largely acting as the executive arms of their parties' economic committees, with contracts steered to predetermined recipients. To counter the problem, he proposed passing a "Where did you get it?" wealth-disclosure law, the automatic lifting of parliamentary immunity on corruption indicators, and the expansion of asset declarations to cover fourth- and fifth-degree relatives of officials. The lawmaker also said certain neighboring countries have acted as intermediaries or applied pressure to protect individuals accused of corruption, and called on the government to resist such external pressure. No further details on the allegations or the response from the bodies named were immediately available.