1st LD: Iraqi parliament passes vote of no-confidence against finance minister
Xinhua, September 21, 2016 Adjust font size:
The Iraqi parliament on Wednesday passed a vote of no-confidence against Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari, official TV reported.
Out of 249 lawmakers attended the parliament session, 158 voted for the no-confidence motion, the report said.
The move came "after the lawmakers found his answers unconvincing during an earlier questioning session," al-Iraqiya state television reported.
A televised parliamentary inquiry aired on Aug. 25 showed Zebari answering questions about misuse of public funds.
Two days later, the parliament voted in majority that Zebari's answers about the graft accusations were "unconvincing" and that he could not justify much of the expenditure.
Zebari, a Kurdish politician, has been finance minister in Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi cabinet since October 2014. He served previously as foreign minister from 2003 to 2014.
Zebari's Kurdish parliamentary bloc holds 62 seats in the Iraqi parliament and three ministerial posts in Abadi's government.
Late in August, the parliament also passed a vote to withdraw confidence from Defense Minister Khalid al-Obeidi after the lawmakers found his response to corruption allegations "unconvincing." Endit