Responding to weeks of street protests, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Abadi issued an edict Sunday designed to crack down on corruption and slash government expenditures.
In a statement issued by his office, the U.S.-backed Iraqi leader also abolished the posts of vice president and deputy prime minister, called for the cancellation of special perks for governmental agencies, and demanded the immediate dismissal of senior state officials.
But the prime minister’s plan, while far reaching, could be largely symbolic. The moves await approval by the Iraqi Parliament, a notoriously slow-acting and fractious body.
Iraq’s parties, representing the country’s Shiite, Sunni and ethnic Kurdish communities, regularly tussle in parliament for larger shares of state appointments and funding.