Alwaght- The new Iraqi Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi was sworn in on Wednesday as a new head of the government, with only two-thirds of the ministers approved by the parliament.
The members of parliament are yet to unite their views on key empty posts like the interior and defense ministries.
The Iraqi parliament met this week to discuss the draft list of the ministers offered o it by the new PM. The members of parliament agreed on 14 members of the list, with the remaining waiting for the political parties to reach a consensus and allow them in their posts, or Abdul Mahdi has to propose new figures.
The Iraqi cabinet has 22 ministers. Abdul Mahdi was named PM by President Bahram Salih on October 2.
Thamer Ghadhban became oil minister and veteran Kurdish politician Fuad Hussein was sworn in as the finance minister. Mohammed Ali al-Hakeem was elected as minister of foreign affairs, Naim al-Rubaye as communication minister, Alaa al-Alwani as minister of health, and Abdullah Luaibi as transport minister.
Ahmed Riyadh (minister of youth and sports), Bassem al-Rubaye (minister of labor and social affairs), Luay al-Khatteeb (minister of electricity), Mohammed Hashim (minister of trade), Jamal al-Adili (minister of water resources), Salih Abdullah Jabouri (minister of industry), Saleh al-Hassani (minister of agriculture), and Bangin Rekani (minister of housing and reconstruction) were the other ministers approved by the parliament, according to Press TV.
The rest of the candidates for the post were disputed by the Saerun, Nasr, and Wataniya blocs’ lawmakers who left the session before the voting on the remaining 8 takes place. They argued that they were not satisfied with the choices. Some parliamentarians accused some of the proposed ministers of corruption.
Iraq is forming its government after the country held its parliamentary election on May 12. Its parliament did not hold its session until early September to choose a president. The president, according to the constitution, names a PM.
The new head of the government has a set of challenges to deal with, ranging from the destruction as a result of a three-year fight against the ISIS terrorist group to the flagrant corruption that plagues the economy.
The new leader also will be under pressure from the victors of the election, Saerun and Fatah alliances, to push for the uninvited foreign forces out of the country. Recently, a top Iraqi diplomat said that Abdul Mahdi will press for the US pullout of Iraq.
Washington sent forces to Iraq under the excuse of fighting ISIS in 2014 while not called for by Iraqi government. Iraq announced obliteration of the terrorist organization in 2017, but estimated 4,000 American troops are still in Iraq, against terms of an agreement signed between the two countries in 2008.
