Main menu Banning the travel of the Iraqi Minister of Finance and summoning him to Parliament. Post navigation

The criticism leveled by the Iraqi Finance Minister, Ali Abdul-Amir Allawi, against the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, and the deputy speaker of Parliament, Hakim al-Zamili of the "Sadr bloc", sparked widespread controversy, and raised the astonishment of most Iraqi circles, as it was the first time that public statements were issued by a minister. In the government of the leader of the Sadrist movement, who enjoys great popularity in some popular areas in Baghdad and some provinces, and controls 73 deputies in Parliament, which prompted the Deputy Speaker of Parliament (Al-Zamili), yesterday, Saturday, to criticize the minister and accuse him of failing to manage the Ministry of Finance. The Sadrists and Minister Allawi, came against the backdrop of popular demands these days to re-raise the exchange rate of the Iraqi dinar, given the increase in international oil prices, after the Iraqi Central Bank, with the support of the Ministry of Finance in 2020, reduced the exchange rate to about 23 percent against the price of the dollar, as Al-Sadr demanded, through a tweet, the day before yesterday, Parliament, to host the Minister of Finance and the Governor of the Bank, immediately, to discuss them about exchange rates and the problems associated with the currency auction in the Central Bank. He sent a strongly worded letter to Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kazemi, refusing to attend parliament, and criticizing the method of requesting his attendance by Al-Zamili. Immediately after a tweet from Mr. Muqtada al-Sadr asking me to appear directly before Parliament to discuss the exchange rate, it is clear, then, that the summoning of the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives came as a result of the tweet of Muqtada, the leader of the Sadrist movement, to which the Deputy Speaker belongs. Allawi added, "I find that the entire process is unacceptable, and we should not be silent about it, whether for the dignity of the government, my dignity as a minister, or my personal dignity and the dignity of my family." And Allawi considered that "the government is not responsible to any political party. It is only answerable to the Iraqi people through its elected parliament. If we, as a government, do not reject these outrageous interferences in the function of government by political parties, we may cede the independence of the government as the executive arm of the state.” He continued, "I categorically reject the summons of the Deputy Speaker of Parliament, because it is clear that they are outside his powers. I also reject running the government completely through tweets from political leaders, regardless of their popularity and status.” Allawi defended the decision to support the devaluation of the dinar, and said he had the support of the international community, the Council of Ministers, the Central Bank of Iraq, and political parties in two separate meetings with drive it then. Allawi expressed his readiness to defend his position and his economic and financial policies “in front of the House of Representatives as a whole and not in front of a specific parliamentary faction.” The rise in prices as a result of raising the exchange rate of the dollar without the presence of the Minister of Finance. Al-Zamili said, according to a statement by his media office, that "a travel ban letter will be issued against the Minister of Finance, holding the Ministry of Interior and the Intelligence Service responsible for his travel, until he completes the requirements for his attendance at the House of Representatives, to testify and resolve the files that he bears." He added that "the House of Representatives will hold an emergency session this week, at the request of 50 deputies, to discuss financial policy, currency smuggling and the exchange rate." Iraq, and did not provide anything for this country, and contributed to the rise of Iraq’s debt to 27 trillion dinars in just one year.” And he added, "The Ministry of Finance has not sent its financial accounts so far, and has not taken any measures to collect debts with communication companies, smuggled funds and aliens," stressing that "he has files that condemn the minister himself as well as the Ministry of Finance." Minister Allawi directed at him and the repeated hostile statements made by the Sadrists, the Iraqi communication sites were filled with thousands of comments supporting and criticizing Minister Allawi and the Sadr movement.