Baghdad — Iraqi economist Manar Al-Obaidi has estimated that total spending on election campaigns across Iraq has reached no less than four trillion Iraqi dinars, calling the figure “enormous” and urging tighter oversight to ensure campaign funds are legal and transparent.
In a post published on his official social media page, Al-Obaidi said that while no official figures are available for overall campaign expenditures, initial estimates—based on the number of candidates, advertising activity, and media spending—suggest that total campaign costs are unlikely to be below three to four trillion dinars, even under conservative calculations.
He warned that the financial structure of campaign spending remains largely unregulated, with little transparency regarding funding sources, spending mechanisms, or key sponsors behind the campaigns.
Al-Obaidi emphasized that several government institutions share responsibility for tracking the flow of campaign money. These include the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC), the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Office of the Central Bank, the Integrity Commission, the Federal Board of Supreme Audit, and the Communications and Media Commission (CMC).
Under Article 9 of the Elections Law (No. 9 of 2020), the IHEC is legally mandated to audit the sources of candidates’ campaign funding and ensure that their expenditures comply with the law. Meanwhile, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, operating under Law No. 39 of 2015, is responsible for tracking and analyzing funds suspected of being illicit or of unknown origin.
The Integrity Commission and Federal Board of Audit also have supervisory roles in preventing the misuse of public funds for political purposes, while the CMC monitors media and advertising activity to ensure fair coverage and prevent the exploitation of state resources for electoral promotion.
Al-Obaidi concluded by calling on authorities to adopt a comprehensive legal framework that would require political parties and candidates to disclose their campaign funding sources and expenditures. Such transparency, he argued, is vital to promoting accountability, fairness, and public trust in Iraq’s electoral process.
