The leaks crisis “gets more complicated” and the government complains of “targeting”.. Al-Sudani’s c

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[size=52]The leaks crisis “gets more complicated” and the government complains of “targeting”.. Al-Sudani’s chances for a second term are diminishing[/size]

[size=45]The audio leak attributed to the Prime Minister's senior advisor was not the first of its kind, and may not be the last, but it reflected a new phenomenon and a modern method that political forces have begun to follow to bring down opponents, taking advantage of technological development, some people's ignorance of its techniques, and corrupt behavior among politicians, according to observers. Meanwhile, a person close to the Prime Minister described the latest leak as an "early war" that began targeting the government of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani before the elections.
On Friday, media outlets and social networking sites circulated an audio leak attributed to the Prime Minister's senior advisor, Abdul Karim Faisal, in which he talked about receiving a bribe. The recording attributed to Faisal included talk about an investment opportunity that the latter was offering to al-Sudani, but the authenticity of this recording has not been confirmed.
Political analyst Ghaleb Al-Dami says, “The method of leaks has become part of the political system’s behavior, and corruption is what led the disputes to adopt this method. Although none of the leaks have been proven so far, including those related to former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, they undermine the citizen’s confidence in the government and the political class and subsequently greatly tarnish the country’s reputation.”
With the spread of the audio clip, the Public Prosecution Office in the Iraqi judiciary demanded an investigation into the audio leaks attributed to the head of the Council of Ministers’ Advisory Board.
Al-Dami adds, “These leaks have not been proven yet, and even those related to the leaks related to the head of the Integrity Commission, Haider Hanoun, the judiciary has not ruled on them and has not officially spoken about the results of the investigation into them. Therefore, any accusation or leak for which the judiciary has not issued a decision is not considered proven or correct. It is necessary to listen to the judiciary’s opinion on it.”
The head of the advisory board in the Council of Ministers, Abdul Karim Al-Faisal, denied the authenticity of the audio leak attributed to him, and while confirming the inaccuracy of the circulating news about his dismissal from work, he expressed his confidence in the Iraqi judiciary “to do him justice,” noting that “this is targeting and a warning to everyone who works and fights with honor and integrity the types of corruption that have ravaged Iraq’s wealth.”
In turn, the director of the Prime Minister’s media office, Rabie Nader, commented on the recording: “The simplest, easiest and most convenient thing that can be done today is to fabricate voices and spread lies as they do, but we rise above these cheap methods, as they are the choice of the bankrupt.”
For his part, political researcher Mujasha’ Al-Tamimi believes that “the phenomenon of leaks reflects the state of conflicts between political forces in Iraq, benefiting from technical and technological developments in the field of media and communications, and it also reflects a development in political conflicts in Iraq.”
Al-Tamimi believes that “the differences between political forces and the inability of oversight and executive institutions to enforce the law are what caused the spread of these phenomena, which reflect the extent of these conflicts with the progress in the information and communications environment, in addition to the spread of the phenomenon of administrative and financial corruption in society.”
Although these phenomena exist in all societies, Al-Tamimi adds, “they have spread widely in Iraq, as a result of the great ignorance of most corrupt officials who have not mastered or understood this technical development, and it seems that the greed and avarice of corrupt officials has also caused these phenomena.”
He concludes that “these leaks are no longer limited to aspects of financial and administrative corruption, but have reached political and sexual scandals to the point that many corrupt university professors have also fallen into the trap of sexual leaks with female students for the purposes of blackmail and defamation, knowing that many of the leaks are carried out through official institutions, some of which are large and have involved themselves in these conflicts.”
Media outlets and social networking sites have previously published audio clips attributed to senior officials, some of which were fabricated and others proven to be true, the most recent of which was of the Director General of the Tax Authority, Ali Allawi. While the Prime Minister directed an investigation into the recording and verifying its authenticity, the Minister of Finance issued a decision to dismiss Allawi from the management of the General Tax Authority.
Leaks attributed to former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki were widely circulated in a sensational story during 2022, in which he spoke about sensitive issues and launched a scathing attack on the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, and threatened to arm factions to protect Najaf from any “attack” by al-Sadr, in addition to his criticism of factions of the Popular Mobilization Forces.
Special leaks ousted the head of the Integrity Commission, Haider Hanoun, from his position after the spread of an audio clip, which was a phone call in which he talked about bribes and a plot of land on which he built his house. The Public Prosecution announced a request to investigate the recordings, and then the judiciary decided to take legal action against Hanoun on several charges, including insulting the judiciary.
In turn, political analyst close to the Prime Minister, Aid al-Hilali, indicated that “what is happening is part of the early war and the specific targeting of figures who prepared to enter the upcoming elections. Al-Sudani is today clearly and openly targeted, and what happened in terms of targeting key figures in Al-Sudani’s government by some parties is shameful and disgraceful.”
Al-Hilali added that “Al-Sudani’s office responded to this act, and this is the first time it has responded, describing this act as a bankrupt method,” noting that “the operation is a clear targeting, and there are parties working on this to shake the citizen’s confidence in the government, which has been established through the government’s fulfillment of its obligations and promises.”
He added that “the amount of work undertaken by the government in the past period has disturbed some people, and has begun to curb the government and is trying to stop the wheel of construction and development because the government is proceeding with achieving the components of its program that it promised the public.”
Al-Sudani’s media office stressed yesterday, Friday, the continuation of the legal pursuit of everyone “who promotes lies targeting the government team and the successes it has achieved, in addition to covering up for the corrupt,” indicating: “There are those who cooperate with corruption, or insist on replacing their role as defined by the constitution with the profession of buffoonery and lying, just to distort the tangible government achievement, and they deliberately pollute all parties with their deviations, after receiving painful blows.”
Months ago, the scandal of the spying and blackmailing network in the Prime Minister’s Office was revealed, and a number of its members were arrested, who are senior employees in the Prime Minister’s Office, headed by Muhammad Juhi, and investigations into that network are still ongoing.[/size]
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