ERBIL, Kurdistan Region — The Iraqi Ministry of Electricity announced on Wednesday that emergency power lines, that provide top officials with a 24-hour power supply, will be disabled. The Undersecretary for Production Affairs Adel Ahmed has ordered all special power lines to be disabled, except for those serving water and sewage stations, hospitals, religious shrines, and prisons, according to a statement from the ministry. State officials and politicians benefit from special electric lines that supply electricity to their homes and offices 24 hours a day, such as in Baghdad’s Green Zone. “The minister stressed on distributing electrical energy in a fair and equal manner to all power feeders, because electricity is a right for all citizens,” the statement said. Iraq suffers from chronic electricity shortages, keenly felt when summer temperatures reach over 50 degrees Celsius, caused by multiple factors, including poor government delivery of services, rampant corruption, terror attacks on the power grid, and Iran’s recent cuts of electricity and gas exports because of unpaid bills. Central and southern provinces have recently suffered from complete power blackouts. The Minister of Electricity resigned in late May, days after prominent Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr demanded his dismissal and started a Twitter campaign protesting the power shortages. Sadr also criticized the supply of round-the-clock power to politicians and the rich. He blamed the poor geographical distribution of power stations and corruption for failure in providing electric power to the general public.
