Latest news with #Al-Lami
Shafaq News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Shafaq News
Iraq's Anti-Corruption pledges close monitoring of campaign finances
Shafaq News/ Iraq's anti-corruption chief on Monday warned against the misuse of public funds in electoral campaigns, as the country gears up for parliamentary elections in November. During a meeting with officials from the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), Mohammed Ali al-Lami, head of the Federal Commission of Integrity, announced plans to deploy field teams in Baghdad and other provinces. These teams will work in coordination with IHEC to monitor the electoral process and ensure that state resources are not exploited for political purposes. Al-Lami also emphasized that individuals with criminal convictions who have benefited from the General Amnesty Law are ineligible to run in the upcoming elections. He called on electoral authorities to require party leaders and founders to submit financial disclosure statements, 'underscoring the commission's intent to closely monitor party funding sources and spending in accordance with Iraqi law.'
Iraqi News
4 days ago
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Head of Integrity Commission: We Will Not Allow Public Funds to Be Exploited in Election Campaigns
The Head of the Federal Commission of Integrity, Mohammed Ali Al-Lami, affirmed on Monday that public funds must not be exploited in election campaigns. According to a statement from the Commission, received by the Iraqi News Agency (INA), 'Head of the Integrity Commission Mohammed Ali Al-Lami met today with the Chairman and members of the Board of Commissioners of the Independent High Electoral Commission.' Al-Lami emphasized that 'the Commission will form field teams in Baghdad and the provinces to visit the Electoral Commission and its branches, in coordination with it, to verify the integrity of the procedures in place and to ensure that public resources are not misused during electoral campaigns.' He noted that 'individuals covered by the General Amnesty Law who have had judicial rulings issued against them are not permitted to run in the elections.' He also warned against 'exploiting official positions and executive offices for electoral purposes,' and called on the Commission to 'instruct party leaders and founders to submit financial disclosure statements through the Department of Political Parties and Organizations Affairs.' Al-Lami further confirmed that 'the Commission will monitor the sources of party funding and how those funds are spent, in accordance with its legal mandate.' For his part, Chairman of the Board of Commissioners, Omar Ahmed Mohammed, expressed the Electoral Commission's 'full readiness to cooperate with the Integrity Commission,' praising its initiative to 'support transparency, protect public funds, and monitor the election campaigns of political blocs and their candidates.'
Iraqi News
10-05-2025
- Business
- Iraqi News
FCoI commissioner: We have provided privileges and protection for those cooperating in uncovering corruption cases
Baghdad-INA The head of the Federal Commission of Integrity (FcoI), Mohammed Ali al-Lami, confirmed on Saturday that the government has made anti-corruption efforts a top priority in its program, he noted that Iraq succeeded in recovering more than half a billion dollars in smuggled funds in 2024, noting that the commission has provided privileges and protection to those who cooperate in uncovering corruption cases. Al-Lami said in an interview with the Iraqi News Agency (INA): "The Federal Integrity Commission enjoys support from the three branches of government," noting that "the government has placed (anti-corruption efforts) among the priorities of its curriculum and governmental program, which has been clearly reflected in the work of the commission; which has clearly contributed to accelerating the pace of work and the cooperation of state institutions in reducing corruption channels." He added that "the efforts of the government, the judiciary, and the supporting bodies supported the Commission's procedures to recover smuggled funds and provided fertile ground for cooperation with various countries around the world to overcome the difficulties facing these efforts, "he indicated that "the combination of national efforts led to Iraq's success in concluding many agreements, memoranda of understanding, and cooperation with many countries around the world where smuggled Iraqi funds and assets are located, or which were present before 2003, as an important and necessary step to recover them (and Iraq's success in recovering more than half a billion dollars of smuggled funds during the year 2024 is only a reflection of this cooperation, which will lead to greater successes in the near future)." Al-Lami pointed out that "the Commission's investigative work is a true embodiment of the principle of 'the accused is innocent until proven guilty,'" noting that "this commitment stems from the duties imposed by laws, human rights standards, the country's social nature, and its reputation in international forums, which we all strive to preserve; and to encourage investment opportunities and attract capital that supports reconstruction and development efforts, creates job opportunities, and reduces unemployment." He explained that "those following the Commission's recent activity clearly notice this through the Commission's keenness to refrain from publishing details of cases that are still under investigation and not to mention the explicit names of the accused in them," He explained that "the guarantees granted by law to the accused can provide clear evidence and help to reveal other accused in the cases that the Commission is considering without coercion or pressure. This is what the Commission follows during the investigation stages, which are under the direct supervision of the Integrity Judges." Al-Lami noted that 'the Authority's strategy for the next phase is based on working within the law and cooperating with everyone, in order to build a national environment that is resentful of corruption and openness to all state institutions to cooperate in reducing corruption paths, in the belief that this fateful battle requires concerted efforts and solidarity.' He stressed that 'the draft national strategy for the years (2025-2030) gave the private sector, civil society organizations, and international organizations an important role in implementation, in addition to state institutions, ministries, and its three authorities.' Regarding the challenges that may face the Commission's work during the next phase, the Commission's Chairman stressed his "true belief that any challenges that may face the Commission's work can be overcome and surmounted through the support that the Commission has received from the three authorities, the components of the people, and their national symbols."
Iraqi News
18-03-2025
- Politics
- Iraqi News
Anti-corruption MOU implemented between Iraq and Russia
The Integrity Commission announced on Tuesday the start of the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding in the field of fighting corruption and the recovery of smuggled assets with Russia. "Iraq is represented by the Federal Integrity and the Russian Public Prosecution, began to implement the paragraphs of the memorandum of the understanding between them, which includes the exchange of experiences in the field of international cooperation in the field of fighting corruption, and the recovery of the incursions and returns of corruption from outside the country," said the Integrity Commission in a statement - received by the Iraqi News Agency - INA. Al-Lami stressed with the delegation of Russian public prosecutors at the headquarters of the commission, "the importance of international cooperation in the field of preventing corruption and its prevention," pointing to "the necessity of supporting efforts to combat it at present, given its transformation into a cross-border scourge." "The importance of developing ways and mechanisms for confronting and combating it, in order to limit it and prevent the games and tricks followed by corrupt people, to pass their corruption and overcome them over public money," he asserted. He called "the states parties to the UN Convention to Combat Corruption to adhere to their materials and terms, especially those related to legal assistance and the recovery of smuggled assets and the delivery of wanted persons," pointing to "the diagnosis of some of the recovery barriers such as the difference of the national legal system of the laws of the student, as well as difficulties facing the control devices when excluding the money of the taxpayers, including the banking secret." During the meeting, the first deputy of the commission expressed "the desire of the Iraqi Academy to combat corruption in the twinning body with the Russian Public Prosecution University, and exchange experiences in the field of training and education, as well as the exchange of scientific and educational literature, the patrols and systematic materials on the subjects of combating corruption and prevention of it." They reviewed "the nature of the work of the academy and activities and activities organized, indicating the experience of studying a professional higher diploma in specializations related to combating corruption." In turn, the Russian public prosecutor experts expressed "their optimism about the good results that resulted in the implementation of the memorial of understanding," explaining "some of the mechanisms through which to cooperate with the Republic of Iraq to recover the smuggled funds and hand over the wanted." They welcomed "the proposal of the twinning between the Russian Public Prosecution University and the Iraqi Academy to combat corruption." They reviewed, during the workshops held at the headquarters of the Investigation Department of the Iraqi Authority and the Iraqi Academic for Combating Corruption, the measures to succeed in the fields of international cooperation to combat corruption and to form national coordination committees that undertake the implementation of these tasks, to overcome the barriers of corruption recovery, paying attention to "the importance of bilateral contracts or multiple MOUs, to coordinate positions in international forums, especially the conferences of the states in the UN agreement to combat corruption. The workshops included in-depth interventions and discussions between the participants and the Russian experts, on legal assistance mutual in investigations, prosecutions, and judicial procedures related to corruption crimes, including the possibility of obtaining evidence or statements of persons, informing judicial documents, and providing the principles of documents, including governmental records or Banking, or companies 'records and commercial establishments, and identifying criminal returns or property. They also handled the role of agreements or bilateral or multiple-party arrangements in overcoming many obstacles to cooperation, especially with regard to recovery and delivery files.
