Baghdad: Iraqi lawmakers on Thursday voted to impeach Defence Minister Khalid Al Obaidi over corruption allegations, MPs said.
Al Obaidi lost a no-confidence vote by 142 votes to 102 in a secret ballot, while 18 lawmakers abstained from the vote, two members of parliament told AFP.
The no-confidence vote removes one of Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi’s key Sunni allies from government and comes as Iraqi forces ramp up preparations for an offensive against Mosul, Daesh’s last major stronghold in the country.
The shock impeachment is the latest development in a bitter feud that erupted earlier this month between Al Obaidi and parliament Speaker Salim Al Jabbouri, the highest-ranking Sunni politician in Iraq.
Al Obaidi was questioned in parliament over corruption allegations, to which he answered with accusations of his own implicating Al Jabbouri and several MPs.
Al Jabbouri moved quickly and agreed to have his immunity lifted so that he could be investigated, only for a special integrity court to drop the case hours later.
