“Committees are the heart of parliament. Each committee plays a small role in a parliament, but that doesn’t exist in the Kurdistan Region parliament. As long as the political parties are powerful in the Kurdistan Region, the role of parliament will be weak. That’s why the committees haven’t garnered results for things that are their responsibility,” Change (Gorran) party parliamentarian Shirin Amin told reporters on Tuesday, while resigning from both the leadership role and the membership in the committee.
Gorran officially agreed to join a new Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) cabinet with the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) in 2019. Seven months after the new cabinet’s formation, they accused the KDP of failing to honor an agreement on the distribution of powers.
The Integrity Committee has eleven members, including a chairperson and a deputy chairperson. Six of the members are affiliated with the ruling KDP, including the deputy chair.
“Most of the time, we’ve had the most dossiers and writings, and investigations, but up to now we feel the results are not good enough. The reason is that the answers don’t come back to the committee enough,” said Amin.
“Additionally, our stances in the Kurdistan [Region] parliament, for the sake of public interest, are another reason to treat this committee differently, “ she explained. “That’s why I don’t want to hold responsibility for a committee when the majority of it might comprise of those with power who deliver whatever aims and purposes they have themselves.”
The Kurdistan Region’s Prime Minister Masrour Barzani on Tuesday “reiterated that the ninth cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government is committed to the continuation of the reform process and fighting against corruption and the prevention of wasting public wealth,” during a meeting with Anwar Ahmed, the head of Kurdistan’s Integrity Commission, a separate entity from the parliamentary committee.
Amin said they have demanded answers in a report about the number of companies at the border crossings, as well as looking into why large amounts of revenue go back to companies affiliated to the government. She added that there are “many” other corruption dossiers “some of which go back to 2019 and 2020.”
She added that sometimes they have been prevented from holding joint investigations with other committees on corruption cases despite having sent in formal requests.
