Lawmaker urges PM to scrap grid power exemptions for ministries

BAGHDAD — Iraqi lawmaker Noura al-Juhaishi called on Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to cancel all electricity supply exemptions granted to government ministries, including the Ministry of Electricity itself, so that officials face the same outage hours as the public.

“I call on the prime minister, on behalf of the Iraqi people, to cancel all electricity supply exemptions granted to ministries, starting with the Ministry of Electricity, so they can experience the same hours of electricity supply as citizens,” Juhaishi, a member of parliament’s Electricity and Energy Committee, said in a television interview Wednesday. “This would allow that large amount of electricity to be redirected to Iraqi citizens.”

She said officials dismissed from the ministry over corruption should be referred to the Federal Commission of Integrity rather than simply replaced, and proposed what she called a “Ministry of Generators” along with state support for private generator owners to get the country through the summer. Her comments came a day after the Council of Ministers approved a measure requiring all government institutions and provincial authorities to register government-owned and private generators on the central generator management platform.

Juhaishi also criticized the ministry for not briefing parliament’s oversight committee on electricity agreements signed during the prime minister’s recent visit to Washington. “All we know about these agreements is what we heard through the media,” she said, adding that in previous governments the minister would brief the committee so contracts could be discussed if amendments or budget approval were needed. Iraqi government agencies and private companies signed 48 agreements, memoranda of understanding and other cooperation arrangements with U.S. companies across the oil, electricity, industrial, technology and financial sectors, the Prime Minister’s Media Office said Saturday.

The remarks follow renewed scrutiny of the sector. Former Electricity Ministry spokesperson Ahmed Mousa al-Abadi said this week that about 60% of electricity generated in Iraq is lost in transmission and distribution, leaving output at about 21,000 megawatts against the 62,000 he said are needed for round-the-clock supply. He said the crisis extends beyond generation and gas shortages to poor management, corruption, deteriorating infrastructure, missing meters, illegal connections and aging overhead networks vulnerable to theft.

Electricity Minister Ali Saadi Waheeb said Monday he had asked to brief Parliament on the power system after lawmakers moved to summon him at the direction of Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi. A day earlier the ministry apologized over declining supply hours, citing “exceptional circumstances” from reduced gas supplies linked to the regional conflict, rising demand, illegal connections, aging infrastructure and insufficient funding. Five protesters were injured Tuesday night after riot police dispersed a demonstration outside the Najaf Governorate headquarters over worsening supply, according to participants.