Iraqi PM accused of poaching candidates for upcoming elections
Shafaq News – Saladin
On Thursday, the Secretary-General of the National Masses Party (al-Jamaheer al-Wataniya), Ahmed al-Jubouri, known as Abu Mazen, accused Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani of drawing party candidates into his new bloc for “personal" purposes.
The Sunni Arab party wields influence in Saladin and Nineveh but has limited national reach, with its leader facing corruption allegations and past US sanctions.
At a press conference in Tikrit, al-Jubouri dismissed the defectors as unrepresentative of Saladin, singling out only lawmaker Haitham al-Zuhwan as exempt.
“Their actions embody the province’s decline."
Al-Jubouri has already been barred from contesting the upcoming elections, set for November 11. Earlier this week, he nominated his son Mazen as his replacement, acknowledging that his own exclusion was based on Article 331 of the penal code, which parliament interprets as negligence and misconduct. He argued, however, that some lawmakers pushed the Integrity Commission to reframe it as corruption and a crime of dishonor.
Conceding that he had “lost hope” of running again, he vowed instead to remain in Iraq and disclose files on individuals and blocs “by name” in the coming weeks.
The accusation comes weeks after al-Sudani formed the “Reconstruction and Development” bloc in Parliament, bringing together more than 50 lawmakers ahead of legislative elections.
