Iraqi defence minister receives thumbs down from Parliament

Iraq’s minister of defense has received a no-confidence vote from parliament just as Iraqi forces retook a key northern town near the Daesh-held city of Mosul.
Khaled Al-Obeidi is the first sitting defense minister to receive a no-confidence vote from Parliament since the overthrow of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein in 2003. The vote against him comes after weeks of political wrangling over corruption allegations.
The minister received 142 votes of no confidence in Parliament Thursday, slightly more than the simple majority needed for the vote to pass, according to lawmakers Sadiq Al-Rikabi and Mohammed Saadoun from the powerful State of Law block.
“I have tried my best to fight against corruption with the means that I have,” Al-Obeidi wrote in a statement posted to his Facebook page shortly after the vote, “but it seems the voices of the masters of corruption are much higher and much stronger.”
Al-Obeidi was appointed by Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi shortly after he took office in 2014 in the midst of political and security crises unleashed by the Daesh group’s takeover of large swaths of northern and western Iraq, including Mosul. 
At the time Al-Abadi said Al-Obeidi’s appointment was intended to fight entrenched corruption that had weakened the country’s military before the 2014 Daesh blitz.

Source: Arab News