Kurdish leaders & politicians forced to reveal their wealth

Shawn Barzinji – BasNews (Erbil): 31.10.2013 – Kurdistan finance watchdog has announced that every Kurdish leaders and politician should reveal  his wealth and revenues.

Ahmed Anwar, judge and head of Kurdistan Watchdog Committee, has told BasNews that once the new Kurdish government has been formed, they will send the majority of Kurdish leaders and politicians a form to fill, in order to reveal their wealth. Anwar says that according to the committee’s law, every politician and government high-level official will be asked to reveal his fortunes.The form will enquire in regards to their monthly salary and post, bank account and number of properties and cars.

“If a politician and government official does not fill in the form or doesn’t reveal his fortunes, his name will be given to the media and he will be fined,” said judge Anwar. Kurdistan Watchdog Committee is an independent committee set up in 2011. They operate under the supervision of Kurdish Parliament. Political activists believe this to be a positive step, however, they think the committee should do more to eradicate corruption in the region. “Every Politicians in the region should fill the form and no one should be excused from revealing their fortunes,” said Kurdish political activist Ali Mahmoud. He thinks the committee should also investigate whether officials have wealth in foreign countries. Further measures have been taken to tackle corruption, such as the Kurdistan Council of Ministries’ order that all government officials fill a form that bans them from doing any business while they hold a government post.