The Council of Independent Authorities convened its first regular session of 2026, chaired by Prime Minister Ali Faleh Al-Zaydi, during which a series of decisions were approved aimed at combating corruption and enhancing government performance. The session involved discussions on
various files related to the work of independent authorities, focusing on addressing obstacles they face, alongside deliberations on agenda items and adopting necessary decisions and recommendations. In the field of integrity and anti-corruption, approval was granted to implement the Cabinet
decision No. 341 of 2026, endorsing recommendations from the performance evaluation of ministries, non-ministerial bodies, and provinces in combating and preventing corruption. Emphasis was placed on implementing the General Secretariat of the Council of Ministers’ circular regarding the development of
legal staff performance, establishing mechanisms to ensure employees’ compliance with the Code of Conduct issued by the Integrity Commission, and directing those responsible to submit financial disclosure statements within legally specified deadlines. Additionally, the automation of real estate ownership data
through a unified system was approved for real estate registration departments. It was also confirmed that investment or economic agreements with countries holding Iraqi funds should include provisions addressing issues related to illicit funds recovery and judicial matters, with amendments
to previous international agreements to meet current requirements, particularly the Riyadh Agreement on judicial and legal cooperation, the Turkish judicial cooperation agreement, and the bilateral treaty with Turkey on extradition of criminals. Contracts requiring exemption from the Public Contracts Implementation
Instructions No. 1 of 2025 were referred to the Ministerial Economic Council for resolution. Regarding the Sunni Endowment Office, approval was given for coordination with the Federal Public Service Council to specify needed specialties, and with the Ministry of Finance
to include a provision in the federal budget draft law to regularize lecturers and security staff. Coordination also occurred with the Ministries of Finance, Education, and Planning to exempt construction works for the Imam Al-Azam College in Baghdad and provinces
from the contracting methods stipulated in the Public Contracts Instructions, with allocation of necessary funds to rebuild and restore mosques and shrines damaged by terrorist attacks. Concerning the Supreme Commission for Hajj and Umrah, coordination with the Federal Financial Supervision
Bureau was approved to complete contract audit requirements, alongside cooperation with the Ministry of Transport and obtaining the Energy Ministerial Council’s opinion on exemption requests from Cabinet decision No. 429 of 2026 regarding ticket price reductions for pilgrims, while considering
government measures to reduce and rationalize expenses related to external delegations. In the domain of the Competition and Anti-Monopoly Council, approval was granted to include the council in certain government committees responsible for preparing economic policies affecting competition, enabling it
to provide opinions. Coordination with relevant entities to prepare a matrix defining each party’s role was also approved to prevent overlapping decisions and regulatory authorities in the market. All government bodies were urged to respond to the Competition Council to
resolve complaints within set timeframes, and to facilitate and expedite establishing council branches in southern and northern provinces, similar to the Middle Euphrates branch. For the Martyrs Foundation, coordination with the National Digital Transformation Center was approved to automate its
operations. Finally, all government entities were voted to comply with the Arabic Language Safety Law No. 64 of 1977, with reliance on the Iraqi Scientific Academy as needed.
