Iraqi PM bids to axe key posts in corruption crackdown

[unhappycamper]

http://www.france24.com/en/20150809-iraq-pm-bids-axe-govt-posts-corruption-crackdown-haider-al-abadi-nuri-al-maliki



| An Iraqi woman holds a placard reading "No to the theft of people's money" during a demonstration against corruption and poor services on August 6, 2015, in the city of Karbala.

Iraqi PM bids to axe key posts in corruption crackdown
Latest update : 2015-08-09

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi called Sunday for a number of high-ranking government positions to be axed, including the post of his rival Nuri al-Maliki, as part of sweeping corruption reforms.

The proposed reforms, which were approved by Iraq’s council of ministers Sunday but still require parliament’s backing, follow weeks of protests in Baghdad and southern cities demanding better government and a call for tough measures by Iraq's top Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.

Protestors have taken to the streets to voice their fury against rampant corruption and the abysmal electricity services that plague Iraq. The power cuts see Iraqis having to endure only a few hours of electricity per day as temperatures top 50C.

One of the most drastic proposals outlined in an online statement was the call for the elimination of the multiple posts of vice president and deputy prime minister "immediately".