President Barzani: 93 corruption cases under investigation

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region (Kurdistan24) – The Kurdistan Region President Masoud Barzani announced new reform and anti-corruption measures on Wednesday aiming to rescue the government from its critical financial crisis.

In a statement released on presidency website, Barzani stated that in the past three months 93 cases of corruption have been submitted to the Kurdistan Region’s Integrity Commission and the Public Prosecution and are under investigation. Some of the cases are at the court.

Barzani expressed his support for the joint reform plan by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and the World Bank in May 30, stating that the new measures are part of the reform package announced in February 2016.

The KRG has made nearly 40 decisions within the context of reform process, transparency, reducing the expenditure and increasing the revenue, many of these decision are related to the oil sector.

The statement explains that the reform measures have also taken place in the KRG Peshmerga Ministry. A committee was formed on April 21, supervised by the chief of staff of the Kurdistan Region Presidency, in cooperation with Peshmerga Ministry and Ministerial Council leadership to modify the extra expenditures of the ministry.

It also notes that necessary reform measures have taken place to combat corruption in the departments of medicines, investment, oil and bank sectors. In an early future, the result will be revealed to the people of the Kurdistan Region.

“What’s left to mention is that combating corruption must be consistent across the Kurdistan Region it includes all the establishments of the Region, with no geographic limits,” read the statement. “The reform measures mustn’t be mixed with political rivalries, and all parties should prioritize the reforms over their political interests.”

Barzani assured the people of the Kurdistan Region that there will be no impunity for anyone in the Region regarding the implementation of the reform and combating corruption.

“Those steps are continued process and need the cooperation and patience of everyone,” President Barzani concluded.

Editing by Ava Homa
(Additional reporting by Mewan Dolamari)