Iraqi PM says no tolerance with officials reluctant with duties

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi has said there will be no tolerance with any official who is proved to have been reluctant with duties, adding that the government will resume meetings with citizens to receive their demands.

During the weekly conference on Tuesday, Abadi said “we will not be tolerant with officials who are proved to be reluctant with duties.”

“Our responsibility is to protect citizens and achieve balance between freedom and preserving the society,” Abadi said, adding that the government “still resumes meetings with citizens to receive their requests and respond to them.”

The Iraqi cabinet decided on Tuesday forming a supreme committee to penalize reluctant officials across the provinces.

Earlier this month, demonstrations were staged against corruption, poor services and unemployment. Some protests reached to other cities in the south.

Security troops used tear gas and water hoses to disperse the protests, while live ammunition were sometimes used. The pro-government al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces) in Najaf and Maysan fired shots against protesters who tried approaching their headquarters.

According to medical sources, some protesters were killed in Basra, Najaf, Samawah, Diwaniyah and Karbala.

On Monday, Mostafa Saadon, the spokesman for the Iraqi Observatory for Human Rights, said mass protests in Iraq left 831 protesters killed and injured over the past 10 days.