Iraq Parliament Expected to Meet to Vote on New Govt. Lineup

Arab World

May 5th, 6:37am

Baghdad - Asharq Al-Awsat

Protesters march under a giant Iraqi flag during an anti-government rally in Baghdad. (AFP file photo)

The Iraqi parliament is expected to convene on Tuesday or Wednesday evening to vote on the cabinet lineup of Prime Minister-designate Mustapha Kadhimi. The State of Law coalition, headed by former PM Nouri al-Maliki, and and National bloc, headed by Ayad Allawi, announced they will be boycotting the meeting, but the remaining blocs will likely attend it, meaning the lineup will be approved. This will mark a breakthrough for Kadhimi, who was the third figure to be appointed PM after Mohammed Allawi and Adnan al-Zurfi, who both failed in garnering enough support among political blocs. Moreover, the crippling economic crisis in Iraq will be a factor in the lawmakers' vote in favor for Kadhimi's government as the country can no longer support more delays amid the collapse of global oil prices. The coronavirus crisis is another element that will factor in the vote. An MP told Asharq Al-Awsat: "Kadhimi will be approved as PM because there are no other alternatives." Speaking on condition of anonymity, he predicted that some reservations will be expressed over some of the 22 proposed ministers. In other words, the entire cabinet lineup is not expected to be completely approved. "Despite the crises plaguing Iraq, the political blocs have exerted massive pressure on the PM-designate, including interfering in the naming of ministers, even though the majority of the parties had announced that they had given him complete trust in choosing ministers," he added. Chairman of the Iraq Advisory Council, Farhad Alaaldin, told Asharq Al-Awsat that the cabinet will likely be approved, with the exception of some ministers. The lawmakers will probably approve 18 nominees, he said, predicting disputes to persist over the finance ministry. Commenting on the challenges in store for Iraq, he said: "The situation will be very complicated, especially since the PM-designate does not have a magic wand that can resolve the stifling crises." He added, however, that Kadhimi was in a "good position" to receive help from "friendly" countries.

from Asharq AL-awsat https://aawsat.com/english/home/article/2268091/iraq-parliament-expected-meet-vote-new-govt-lineup