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BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister announced drastic anti-corruption and other measures on Sunday as he sought to calm weeks of protests over poor government services that are posing a major challenge to his rule. In statements posted to his official Facebook and Twitter accounts, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said his government would reopen graft cases under the supervision of a high-level commission, change the way ministers are selected by eliminating party- and sectarian-based quotas, and end expensive security details for senior officials. “We are starting today genuine reform in all areas,” Abadi said in a statement. The most dramatic step was his pledge to immediately abolish Iraq’s three vice presidential posts, considered largely ceremonial, as well as the office of deputy prime minister. Nouri al-Maliki, Abadi’s predecessor and political rival, serves as a vice president but is thought to still wield considerable influence. Deputy Prime Minister Bahaa al-Araji, who is under investigation over corruption allegations, resigned Sunday after the announcement. But it was unclear whether Abadi would need a constitutional amendment to eliminate the vice presidencies. Some of the measures, Iraqi legal experts said, would need approval from both the cabinet and parliament. Opposition blocs within parliament are also likely to push back against the decree. “Some blocs will try to obstruct the vote on this resolution because it threatens their interests,” lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlak said. “But public pressure is very strong.” Iraqi media reported Sunday that the cabinet endorsed the measures. The speaker of parliament, Salim al-Jubouri, also said Sunday that he supports the package. Moqtada al-Sadr, a powerful Iraqi Shiite cleric who once helped lead an insurgency against U.S. troops in the country, released a statement Sunday calling on “millions” to protest if parliament refuses to ratify the proposals. “Everyone should stand against the corrupt,” he said. [‘We’ve had enough’: Baghdad protests challenge Iraq’s Abadi] Many Iraqis blame Maliki, who was prime minister from 2006 to 2014, for the corruption that has plagued the country’s political life since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion installed a new system of government. On Friday, tens of thousands of Iraqis demonstrated across the country and here in the capital against leaders who they say have plundered public wealth and neglected Iraq’s war-battered infrastructure. The protests, which began last month in southern Iraq and have since spread, came amid a searing heat wave in which temperatures have topped 120 degrees. The heat has been particularly unbearable because of the limited power supply in the country, giving Iraqis only a few hours’ worth of electricity a day to run fans or air conditioners. On Sunday, activists called for more demonstrations in central Baghdad to support Abadi’s initiatives, even in the 110-degree heat.

Thanks Adam. SUPPORT THE TROOPS !

Enjoy our Independence Day! You deserve it. Remember to keep those troops in Iraq and Afghanistan in your thoughts and prayers!

What is your thought on this article? Long-Presse / Baghdad He attributed the economic advisor to the Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, Monday, reasons for the high dollar in the local market to the deterioration of oil prices and reduce the central bank sales of foreign exchange rates, as called for reducing the value of the dinar and raise the dollar value of sales for the launch of cash and "restrain" demand and ensure the stability of exchange rates. He said the appearance of Mohammed Saleh said in an interview to the (long-Presse), "The instability of the US dollar exchange rates in the Iraqi market and to rise in recent months, due to the deterioration of oil prices," noting that it "led to the deterioration of the Iraqi payments rates because its export base is oil." . Saleh added that "the Iraqi Central Bank action to reduce the direct sales of the dollar, instead of reducing the value of the dinar", so they returned to "create a market to sell the currency again." Economic Adviser to the Prime Minister and expressed his support "to lower the value of the Iraqi dinar in line with the market, as well as raise the sales value of the dollar," adding that it "will launch a cash liquidity and restrain demand and contributes to the stability of the dollar exchange rate." The specialize in the banking sector attributed in (the ninth of April 2015) rising dollar against the dinar, to the Central Bank for deducting customs duties and taxes in advance procedures, and called for a "freeze" of the resolution, while the expected continued decline in the value of the Iraqi dinar, stressed the need to cancel Article 50 of the budget for determining the dollar sales. Read more: http://dinarvets.com/forums

Thanks Adam. Get some rest, because once this RV comes it will be like being in a tornado. SUPPORT THE TROOPS!

Gain control of all the major oil fields, before any HCL can come to pass. They need the willingness to fight and get a momentum going.

My opinion is that they are waiting to make sure they have secured all the large oil refineries and take Mosul before anything major can be done with the HCL and Dinar rate. SUPPORT THE TROOPS!

Thanks to you and your staff! Support the Troops!

Have you heard anything about some significant movement by the CBI? Especially after loans and credit rating announcements.

Thanks Adam !

Bomb it ! Make it a hole to start an in-ground swimming pool.

Iraqi parliamentarian said on Saturday that the Iraqi Central Bank plans to launch two new categories of the Iraqi currency, fifty thousand and hundred thousand dinars. How, if any, does this get us closer to the RV?

Thanks for all you and your friends (staff) do for us! Support the Troops.....they're still out there 24\7.

Wonder what bank(s) were there. Did they have their De LA Rue machines with them.

Thanks Adam! I'm going to need a bucket of ice cream..... Paid taxes.....ouch.

They will be followed to see who else are their accomplices. Wire tap phones, tap their internet connection, etc. Their families will also be monitored. We will get more information this way and after the information goes dry, then we will prosecute them and their family. It's going to be a 24/7 thing.

Abadi's visit to Washington this month have any significance towards the RV?

Happy New Year to all Dinar Vets. Support the Troops! They are still out there and spending the holidays without family and friends. Maybe a prayer for them!

As long as you're not against the Troops and their families.............we're good!

What are your thoughts on the election results in Iraq? Good or bad for us?

http://www.iraqpressagency.com/?p=59539〈=ar This news article states they are inviting parliament members to work on the budget in the next 2 days. The article was dated 5 May. Other news articles state working on the budget in the next month. What do your sources say on this? Or opinion.

Maliki has not done anything for the poor, so he will be out. Unless he states there were forgeries in the ballot and decides to stay on until it is resolved....

They are still paying off Kuwait and still have a ways to go.....still oweing billions of dollars. Will they wait until it's paid off so they can RV?

Anybody twitter him about the Dinar? I dont twitter.

Thanks Adam...... Plus, I think I rode that bucking horse at one time.