Iraqi PM suspends Electricity Minister amid ongoing 'revolution of the poor'

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi suspended his Minister of Electricity on Sunday as people across the country continue to protest the lack of public services and rampant corruption.

In a statement released by the Iraqi Premier’s office, Abadi ordered an investigation into Electricity Minister Qassim al-Fahdawi’s role in the deterioration of power supply and distribution across Iraq, especially the hotter southern provinces.

There was no immediate comment from the sacked Iraqi Minister.

Over the past three weeks, central and southern provinces of Iraq have witnessed raging protests over inadequate public services, constant electricity outages in Iraq’s blistering hot summer, and widespread corruption in government institutions.

At least 14 people have been killed during the protests so far and hundreds more wounded in clashes with Iraqi security forces.

On Saturday, Abadi sacked five local election officials after they were charged with acts of corruption committed during Iraq’s national election on May 12.

Abadi’s decisions come two days after Iraq’s top Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, urged the Iraqi government to fight corruption and ease unrest in the country.

Protests, which have been called the ‘revolution of the poor’ by demonstrators, continue to rage on as Iraqi politicians struggle to form a new government following the spring election which was marred by allegations of widespread fraud and prompted a manual recount of some ballot stations.

Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, ranks high on Transparency International’s Corruption Index as corruption and mismanagement in state institutions are the most significant challenges the country has faced since the fall of the former regime nearly 15 years ago.

In 2017, Iraq ranked 166 out of 176 on the Transparency Index, making it one of the most corrupt countries in the world.

Editing by Nadia Riva