Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq’s National Investment Commission (NIC) had filed two official requests to postpone Parliament’s questioning of acting chairman Haider Mohammed Makiyya, after lawmakers voted to dismiss him and refer his files to the Federal Commission of Integrity, the NIC said on Thursday.
Parliament voted earlier by absolute majority to remove Makiyya following a questioning session held in absentia after he did not attend.
Mansour Al-Baiji, a lawmaker from former PM Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development bloc, told Shafaq News that Parliament proceeded because Makiyya “did not appear or formally notify the legislature of any excuse for his absence.” However, the NIC explained that the presence of two simultaneous questioning files required more time to coordinate with relevant departments and prepare documented answers.
The NIC also pointed to a pending criminal case linked to the questioning procedures, noting that it had agreed to send the Integrity Commission the questions and answers for both files once completed. An Integrity Commission team at the NIC had reviewed Thursday’s questions and the answers already prepared, it added.
Oday Awwad, head of the Sadiqoon bloc (the political wing of the Asaib Ahl Al-Haq armed faction), told reporters that the questioning was aimed at protecting public funds and development, not targeting individuals, and called on the government to nominate a qualified replacement.
On June 28, Iraq launched Operation "Dawn Crackdown" under Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi's direction. A security source previously told Shafaq News that the campaign led to 67 arrests in its first 24 hours, while informed sources said its initial phase was expected to target more than 200 officials, politicians, current and former deputy ministers, business owners, and other suspects.