Iraq's Shi’ite groups back anti-corruption bid

Iraq’s main Shi’ite groups yesterday voiced support for prime minister Haider al-Abadi’s plan to overhaul the government and combat corruption, state TV said.

The broadcaster cited a statement issued by the National Alliance, a loose gathering of Shi’ite groups that controls the majority of seats in parliament, after a meeting with Abadi in the Shiite holy city of Kerbala, south of Baghdad.

The other blocs in parliament mainly represent the Sunni and Kurdish communities.

Abadi, 19 months into his four-year term, said in February that he wanted to replace politically-appointed ministers with technocrats in a bid to weaken the current system, which distributes positions along ethnic and sectarian lines, creating patronage networks blamed for breeding corruption.

Abadi’s move came after criticism from the nation’s highest Shi’ite cleric, grand ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, that his government has done little to tackle the issue.

“The National Alliance affirms its position of support of the reforms and ministerial change that the prime minister has called for,” the statement said.

The Shi’ite meeting in Kerbala was attended by Moqtada al-Sadr, the powerful cleric who called on Friday for the government to be overthrown if it failed to act against corruption, according to state TV.