Iraq's Parliament Sacks Finance Minister over Corruption Allegations
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Iraq's parliament voted on Wednesday to dismiss Finance Minister Hoshiyar Zebari, state TV and parliament sources said, a move that risks further destabilizing the major OPEC producer's fragile finances.
Parliament voted by majority to dismiss Zebari after questioning him last month on charges of corruption and mismanagement, which he denies, Reuters reported.
Zebari, a veteran Kurdish politician from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), has been in office since October 2014. He served as Iraq's minister of foreign affairs for nearly a decade before that.
According to Iraq's constitution the parliament can hold a confidence vote on ministers if a majority of the MPs ask for the vote to take place after holding the questioning session. The ministers can then lose or win the confidence vote based on how the MPs chose to cast their ballots.
