Parliament, government and salaries

 

By Fatih Abdulsalam

 

Azzaman, December 17, 2005

 

The success of the elections on Thursday is good news for the nation, but Iraqis are wary that the 275 members of the forthcoming national parliament will once again fail to meet their aspirations.

 

The new national assembly will elect a president and replace the transitional government elected in January. The future of the country relies heavily on how the parliament will exercise this authority and how it is going to use its constitutional mandate to supervise their performance.

 

It is indeed unfortunate to say that the outgoing parliament has drastically failed to perform its duties as a legislative body and monitor of government performance.

 

The members have spent more time debating their salaries and bonuses and those of the government they had chosen.

 

We had high expectations of our first elected parliament. We were looking forward to the formation of committees that would have supervised government performance in various spheres.

 

Instead the legislators almost rubber-stamped the government, its decisions and measures, forgetting the people they voted them into office and putting their factional and ethnic affiliations ahead of those of the country and nation.

 

The outgoing parliament was more a voice for the government rather than a voice for the people. For this reason there is little the transitional government did to be thanked for.

 

In fact conditions deteriorated further in the government’s nearly 11-month term. Insecurity mounted, violence mushroomed and public services like power, clean water, health and food rations worsened. Graft and corruption became endemic.

 

Despite these calamitous conditions we have not heard a single word of protest from our elected representatives. In democratic nations, parliaments spring into action in conditions like these, questioning the government, summoning ministers and even withdrawing confidence if necessary.

 

It seems our parliamentarians had other issues in mind. They spent much of their time seeking legislation to enshrine their financial benefits and those of the government.

 

The legislators’ main task and probably achievement has been securing hefty financial privileges for themselves and the government they represent.

 

Today, our legislators and ministers are reported to be receiving massive salaries in U.S. dollars – imagine a country’s elected officials shunning the national currency.

 

We hope the rush to nominate for a post in the forthcoming parliament – some 6,665 candidates had registered for the ballot – was mainly for the purpose of serving the Iraqi people and not enjoying the financial benefits the outgoing legislators enacted for themselves.