The sacking by Nouri al-Maliki, of his Transport Minister, Amer Abdul-Jabbar, whom he accuses of ‘bad management’, has caused many to question the decision.

Outside of Maliki’s party, rumours abound that certain ‘financial deals’ could have been to blame for Abdul-Jabbar’s loss of favour. There is a talk of a conspiracy against him because of his refusal to support controversial airline privatization plans.

Further intrigue piled on, with the current political stalemate also surfacing as a possible cause for the dismissal.

It is hard to imagine getting to the bottom of the real reasons, which are likely to remain shrouded in claim and counterclaim.

On 7 July, the Prime Minister sent the minister on ‘compulsory leave’. The National Security Minister Shirwan al-Waeli was appointed as his replacement.

Abdul-Jabbar is not expected to return from his leave, as the new government should be formed beforehand. The government’s decision is effectively final.

“It was taken because of the many problems faced by the ministry," said its spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, who expressed his regret because the minister "did not give local private companies in the aviation industry the opportunity to develop their potential during the last period."

It is Abdul-Jabbar’s involvement in the privatisation of Iraqi Airways that is causing people to throw-up calls of corruption against the new government.

"His financial and administrative corruption were the main reasons behind the decision taken against him," says Judge Wael Abdul Latif, a former lawmaker.

Evidence was submitted against the minister relating to his involvement in airline privatisation which were, according to Abdul Latif, “not as transparent as they should have been.”

However, MP Alia Nassif, a member of the parliament's integrity commission, denied all accusations made by Abdul-Latif, saying:

"I am confident that there is not one proof of corruption submitted to the parliament against the minister."

Nasif also noted that the hidden reasons behind the decision to sack the minister were related to the aviation industry and specifically “the liquidation of Iraqi Airways.”

Nasif, who represents Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya list, was joined in condemnation of the government’s decision by a fellow Iraqiya deputy who wished to remain nameless.

“He was removed because he did not approve the action taken by the government of dissolving Iraqi Airways, and the privatisation of the air transport sector of Iraq."

The source asked for anonymity fearing that the ‘grinding machine’ of Maliki’s State of Law party could catch up with him, too.

"Al-Maliki and his allies, seeking to control the air transport sector through the establishment of private airlines, were angered when Abdul-Jabbar opposed such procedures especially with the liquidation of the Iraqi airline."

Minister Abdul-Jabbar, who held office for nearly two years, half the lifespan of the current government, objected to the government's conduct in the ‘Iraqi plane crisis’, when an aircraft was impounded by British authorities in Gatwick Airport when the first flights between London and Baghdad began in April 2009.

Kuwait filed a lawsuit against Iraqi Airways as part of compensation they claimed after the Kuwaiti Airways fleet was destroyed during Saddam Hussein’s invasion in 1990.

Maliki’s government sought to liquidate the nationalised company and announce its bankruptcy.

The government resorted to ‘legal manoeuvrings’ to try and avoid restrictions on Iraqi air traffic. Iraqi Airways no longer exists and new private airlines can be established, with Kuwait’s compensation claims to be reviewed in international courts.

Abdul-Jabbar believed the decision to liquidate the airline was hasty and opposed it. Contracts with some inefficient private airlines connected with influential political parties and parliamentarians had already been suspended.

A source close to Iraqi Airways stressed that influential government figures “with financial interests are behind the government decision to sack the minister and some of these companies resumed their work one week after the suspension decision."

Workers at Baghdad International Airport verified this claim.

One worker said, “Jupiter Airliner resumed its work under the name of Global Jet. Sham and Arab Sky Net are also working jointly with the Nasser Airline Company, a private one owned by Iraqi businessmen."

Abdul Jabbar refused to comment on financial related issues but said that there were “political reasons behind the decision taken.”

He continued: “it is regrettable that government decisions are bound by political interests without taking into consideration the overriding national interests. This has become the tradition among the majority of politicians in all issues in Iraq."

The Ministry of Transport’s spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh, was tight-lipped on the matter. He refused to comment on the topic, promising that relevant legal departments would follow up on the issue.

Some believe that financial corruption might not be the real issue. Instead, Abdul-Jabbar’s position as an independent deputy in parliament who failed to win re-election may have prompted action against him as Maliki’s party sought to clear out potential enemies who could bring their current government down with a no confidence motion.

Al-Naser Duraid, a political analyst and professor at the Sulaimaniyah University, said that "al-Maliki is trying to get rid of some members of his list who have become an extra burden, especially the independent ones who did not win in the elections.

Abdul-Jabbar’s independence became his undoing and he was made a scapegoat believes Duraid.

His position is similar to that of the electricity minister, whose resignation was accepted by al-Maliki in an attempt to contain popular discontent and the several attempts to overthrow his government by the no confidence vote,” he explained.

Currently, there is constant controversy over the legitimacy of government decisions and dispute exists over whether it is currently acting as a caretaker government or whether it holds full powers to act in such a way as to dismiss a deputy like that.

Government parties close to al-Maliki insist that the government still enjoys its full powers. However, Duraid said that opposition parties “believe that the powers entrusted to the government have ceased to exist with the convening of the new parliament and the decision to dismiss the minister came after the first parliament session. This fact raises doubts on the constitutionality of the decision taken by the government.”