The Iraqi government's efforts against corruption have been halting at best, and Iraqi courts frequently bow to political pressure in cases against officials suspected of wrongdoing, a leading anticorruption official said.
Sabah al-Saedi, who heads parliament's integrity commission and whose zealous anticorruption campaigns make him a gadfly for some in Iraqi officialdom, also said that exasperation about corruption would shape the outcome of national polls next year.
"Maliki has raised the banner of fighting corruption, but then he has retreated, saying it is not a major problem and has been politicised," said Saedi, a member of the Fadhila party, rival to Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's Dawa party.
"The government doesn't have any real intention to fight corruption," Saedi said in an interview on Sunday.
Since the chaotic early days after the 2003 invasion, when the government melted away and unguarded ministries were looted of everything down to their lightbulbs, Iraq has been a victim of graft, embezzlement and fraud of epic proportions.
There have been few robust checks on the oil money flowing into ministries rebuilt from scratch over the past six years.
In 2008, only Somalia and Myanmar were seen as more corrupt than Iraq, according to Transparency International.
Violence has dropped sharply, and Iraq more than ever needs to secure the foreign and local investment that will help it rebuild from years of conflict, sanctions and decay.
The Oil Ministry has invited some of the world's biggest energy firms to compete for contracts for major oil and gas fields, but the results so far have not matched expectations.
In other areas, like agriculture and housing, Iraq is still waiting for the wave of investment American officials predicted in 2003 would soon follow their tanks into Baghdad.
"Corruption is the real obstruction for reconstruction, development and the investment process in Iraq," Saedi said.
Iraq has several agencies in place dedicated to combating corruption, including a Board of Supreme Audit, an executive Integrity Commission, and inspectors general across ministries.
Yet few senior officials had been tried until charges were filed against former Trade Minister Abdul Falah al-Sudany, who resigned in May in connection with graft allegations involving Iraq's food rations programme, one of the world's biggest.
The Trade Ministry buys millions of tonnes of wheat, rice and other food each year from leading world agribusiness firms.
"CONSENSUS" AMONG PARTIES
The trial of Sudany, close to Maliki, is continuing. Saedi said there had been political involvement in the case, like pressure to release Sudany on bail. He said there was collusion between political powers to protect their own.
"Political consensus (among powerful parties) halts moves to question officials and hold them accountable before courts ... There is clear intervention and pressure on the judiciary to protect corrupt officials, release them or go easy on them."
Abdul-Sattar al-Birqdar, spokesman for the Iraqi judiciary, denied any political involvement in the Sudany case and said an independent committee in Baghdad was overseeing proceedings.
Sudany denies any wrongdoing.
In a country where people expect to pay bribes to start a business, get a passport, or almost anything else, corruption may prove a decisive issue in upcoming Jan. 16 national polls.
Maliki, who may face off against Shi'ite politicians who have been his close allies, has adopted a more urgent tone on corruption and ordered hundreds of suspect officials arrested. But many Iraqis complain few results are visible so far.
Last week, a deputy transport minister was accused of taking $100,000 in cash from a foreign security firm to renew a contract. He had been in the job less than a month.
