Al-Kalabi asks parliament to host Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani for questioning over Iraq's debts

MP Yusuf Al-Kalabi on Tuesday evening responded to a parliamentary referral to the Committee on Parliamentary Conduct after his remarks about the head of the Reconstruction and Development bloc, Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, drew objections from the bloc, calling for a public session in which the previous presidency of the Council of Ministers would be summoned for questioning about Iraq's debts.

Al-Kalabi said in a video clip that he spoke about the responsibility of the former prime minister in his capacity as a government officeholder, noting that the three-year budget in his government was supposed to lead to an urban development renaissance but its implementation was shelved for a year and a half, and that this coincided, he said, with debts appearing on Iraq amounting to 208 trillion dinars.

He added that al-Sudani's government faces several files including exemptions, investments, debts and the exploitation of the office in elections, stressing that he did not mean the Reconstruction and Development bloc or its MPs personally but spoke about its leader in his capacity as the former prime minister.

Al-Kalabi announced he will submit a request to the Speaker of the Council of Representatives and his two deputies to allocate a public session with the attendance of Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani to question him about what he described as the debt case.

Separately, the Council of Representatives presidency referred Al-Kalabi to the Committee on Parliamentary Conduct at the request submitted by the head of the Reconstruction and Development bloc, Baha al-Araji, according to a document that indicates al-Araji attached a compact disc containing what he said were the disputed statements and considered them an insult and a false accusation against the bloc leader and the former prime minister.

The Reconstruction and Development bloc had announced on Monday that it was suspending its attendance at Council of Representatives sessions, stressing that it had submitted an official memorandum demanding the referral of the MP to the Committee on Parliamentary Conduct and had not seen practical measures, which prompted it to suspend participation until the procedures it demands are completed.