Independent lawmakers push for ouster of CBI Governor over incompetence, fraud allegations

Shafaq News/ Two independent members of the Iraqi parliament (MPs) confirmed their intent to move forward with procedures to dismiss the governor of the Central Bank of Iraq (CBI) due to his alleged inability to control the US dollar's exchange rate in local markets and purported instances of fraud in currency purchase receipts.

During a joint press conference held at the parliament building, attended by a Shafaq News Agency reporter, independent MP Ahmad Majid stated, "The rising dollar price has adversely impacted all state sectors, the Iraqi economy, and especially the impoverished citizens in their daily living and essential needs."

Majid emphasized that "there's forgery in the receipts presented to the Central Bank via the currency sale window for dollar purchases, ostensibly for goods imports but are, in reality, operations to smuggle currency out of Iraq. These banks, which purchase the dollar, are economic extensions of political parties."

"All this has not been properly overseen by the Central Bank, and the banks listed on the blacklist haven't been held accountable," he continued, "therefore, we hold the governor of the Central Bank and the Prime Minister responsible for the chaos and disorder in the dollar exchange rate fluctuations, which have directly affected the average Iraqi citizen in their daily sustenance and living."

"We previously requested to host the Central Bank governor regarding the dollar exchange rate crisis. Unfortunately, certain entities attempted to shield the governor from attending the parliament session. We will employ all legal measures, as guaranteed by the constitution, in collaboration with independent MPs, to end this chaos. We are determined to proceed with all procedures to dismiss the Central Bank governor from his position."

For his part, MP Hadi al-Salami said, "We had previously submitted a letter to the Prime Minister on July 26, requesting the termination of the Central Bank governor's duties, invoking Article 13 of the Central Bank Law No. 56 of 2004, based on Article 61 of the Constitution and the Parliament Law No. 13 of 2018."

He added that the dismissal also refers to "Article Five of the Constitution, which addresses the appointment of ambassadors and special grade officials proposed by the Council of Ministers. Additionally, according to Article 44 of the 2018 Parliament Law, those assigned should perform their duties for no longer than six months from the appointment date."

"The concerned entity should then recommend a nominee to the Parliament within three months," he said, "We requested the Prime Minister to take action to end the current Central Bank governor's mandate due to his poor management, his inability to control the rising dollar exchange rate against the dinar in the parallel market, and his failure to take legal actions against the banks that were sanctioned by the US for dollar smuggling and money laundering. Furthermore, the governor refrained from disclosing the daily sales bulletin."