Doubts over Maliki’s anti-graft crusade
Iraq is abuzz with stories of new arrests, but not of former Ba’athists or members of the so-called Sunni insurgency, rather it is officials who are part of the post-Saddam Hussein era. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has launched a massive anti-corruption campaign, promising to bring senior officials to justice be they Sunni, Shi’ite or Kurd.
If his words are translated into action this would be the first major anti-corruption campaign in Iraq since 1979, when Saddam arrested – and executed – dozens of officials on charges of embezzlement.
On May 30, Iraqi authorities arrested Abdul Falah Sudani, a former ally of the prime minister who had been minister of trade since 2006. Sudani, who was forced by parliament to resign on May 14, was detained on an Iraqi airplane bound for the United Arab Emirates this weekend, with the plane forced to turn back in mid-flight. The direct order came from the Ministry of Interior, and Sudani is now in an Iraqi jail awaiting trial over corruption charges related to the nation’s food assistance program involving his two brothers.
Interior Ministry officials told The Washington Post that the order to turn around Sudani’s plane and arrest him came from Maliki’s office on Saturday.
Sabah Sudani, the minister’s brother, was also arrested this month after apparently trying to bribe a police officer with US$50,000 for his freedom. A third brother, Majid, is still in hiding. The "Sudani three" seemingly topped the prime minister’s wanted list.
Ordinary Iraqis are pleased with the arrests, but many say the anti-graft campaign should have started when Maliki first came to office in 2006. Last Wednesday, the government announced the start of the campaign, which could bring nearly 1,000 officials to court on corruption charges.
"We will not keep silent about corruption after this day and we will chase all the corrupt and bring them before the judiciary," said the premier. Last April, Maliki’s government issued 387 arrest warrants, 51 for senior officials, all below the rank of minister. Another 997 are waiting to be signed by Maliki.
The Iraqi government estimates that billions of dollars have been embezzled in bribes since the downfall of Saddam in 2003. Watchdog group Transparency International ranked Iraq in 2008 as the world’s third-most corrupt country behind Somalia and Myanmar.
The anti-corruption campaign was triggered by the Sudani scandal. Charges he was stealing public money and mismanaging the ministry by importing expired foods and employing his relatives, including two brothers, first surfaced in early May.
Later last month when police went to a Trade Ministry building to serve arrest warrants on nine officials, they were fired on by the ministry’s guards. During the 15-minute gun battle, all but one of the wanted officials, the ministry’s spokesman, escaped out a back door.
Two of the escapees were Sabah and Majid, who were employed as guards in the ministry and who are both accused of skimming millions of dollars from food-import contracts. The fallout from the scandal was worsened when a video surfaced on YouTube which showed the brothers apparently drinking alcohol, cavorting with prostitutes, and deriding the premier.
Maliki has ordered that his office take control of the ministry’s functions until further notice.
Inspired by the new atmosphere in Iraq, an Iraqi blog, www.kitabat.com (which means "writings"), ran an article accusing one of Maliki’s aides of corruption, calling on the prime minister to sack even his closest advisors if found to be guilty. The writer, Ali Hussein, was immediately sued by the prime minister, who demanded compensation of a staggering one billion Iraqi dinars (over US$800,000), claiming that nepotism charges brought against his aide-de-camp were untrue. It must be noted that the blog’s creator, Iyad al-Zamili, who has been residing in Germany since 2003, was himself a former supporter of Maliki, most notably during the provincial elections of January 2009.
The striking contrast between the story of the "Sudani three" and that of Maliki’s aide, raises doubt about the prime minister’s commitment to the anti-graft drive. One of the reasons why the prime minister is so furious is that the 62-year-old Sudani is a member of Maliki’s own Da’wa Party. If Maliki was aware of Sudani’s wrongdoings – but ignored them – then he is guilty. If he had no idea what was taking place, then he is equally guilty.
This is the 10th time a ministerial seat has become vacant under Maliki, after members of the Iraqi Accordance Front and the Sadrist bloc stepped down in 2007.
People are starting to wonder whether Maliki is heading a real cabinet, or a wobbly coalition where ministers resign – or fall – with no prior notice? The trade minister, after all, was originally brought down by parliament, which is headed by the new Sunni speaker Iyad Samarrai, and not by the prime minister.
Samarrai, a newcomer to the post of speaker, had once pledged to bring down the entire Maliki cabinet, claiming that most of its members were sectarian and corrupt. He was believed at first to be nothing but a figurehead, but has proven that he is taking his job seriously. Last Thursday, he summoned Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani, another Maliki ally, to stand before parliament for failing to boost crude exports to above 2.2 million barrels per day.
Samarrai managed to gather 140 signatures needed to drag Shahristani before the assembly. If a vote of no confidence emerges on Tuesday, Maliki will have to fire a minister he has leaned on since 2006.
Oil prices, after all, have dropped from a high $147 a barrel last July, and are now at a about $60. Maliki is not pleased at having Samarrai flex his muscles so much by targeting member after member of the cabinet. As much as he is embarrassed by Sudani’s wrongdoings, Maliki is also not pleased that it was the legislative branch, rather than the prime minister’s office, that originally brought down the trade minister.
A closer look at the anti-corruption campaign suggests that it is directly related to the parliamentary elections scheduled for January 30, 2010. Nothing pleases voters as much as a serious anti-corruption campaign, after all. Others believe, however, that Maliki is being forced into these steps to show that he can stand up to Samarrai.
Shahristani and Sudani are both considered close to the prime minister, and close to Iran. Samarrai, however, is believed to be close to Saudi Arabia. Maliki came out with loud words against Saudi Arabia this weekend, amid plenty of talk within Iraq about anti-corruption.
Maliki said, "Iraq has no intention of making new goodwill gestures towards Saudi Arabia because my initiative has been interpreted in Riyadh as a sign of weakness." Iraqi journalists interpreted this as reference to a May 2007 summit in the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh where King Abdullah refused to meet Maliki, accusing him of "embodying sectarian divisions".
"There will be no other initiatives on our part as long as there is no sign from Saudi Arabia that it wants to have good ties [with Baghdad]", said Maliki. He even repeated old accusations that Saudi Arabia was behind the insurgency in Iraq. This prompted the powerful Saudi Interior Minister Prince Nayef to respond, coming just short of accusing the Iraqi premier of lying.
The Iraqi premier is angry that despite his opening of an embassy in Saudi Arabia in 2007, the Saudis have still not sent an ambassador to Baghdad. They cite sectarian and security problems, claiming that it is too early for such a step. While highly critical of the prime minister, the Saudis are supportive of Sunni heavyweights in Iraq like Samarrai and members of the Iraqi Accordance Front – who are all now gloating at the downfall of Sudani.
It is still unclear if Maliki’s anger against Saudi Arabia was related to the anti-corruption campaign in Iraq and if it is merely hoped to drum up support ahead of the elections. But some observers feel Maliki is using the drive as a means to save his own neck, as many of those under investigation are members of his own team.
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