Iraqi parliament fails to hold vote on new government amid party disputes
ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The Iraqi parliament adjourned Thursday's extraordinary session at which lawmakers were slated to approve or reject the proposed cabinet of Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Allawi without holding the crucial vote, extending the embattled nation's months-long period without a government after a nationwide protest movement led to the former prime minister's resignation.
Allawi reportedly delivered a list of prospective ministers to the Council of Representatives on Thursday, but the body did not achieve the necessary quorum to vote amid disputes between the major Shia-majority bloc backers of Allawi and both leading Sunni and Kurdish factions.
The legislature's leadership then decided to postpone the session until Saturday, as factions continue to bicker about the selection of Allawi’s candidates for various ministerial positions, part of the usual horsetrading that has brought Iraqi government formation well past its constitutionally mandated deadlines in past years. Allawi has said previously that the approval of his cabinet would mark the end of that system of “political quotas.”
The prime minister nominee appears to have sidelined the Kurdish and Sunni leadership and picked what he says are “independent” nominees for his cabinet. He held meetings with delegations from both on Wednesday but appears to have not secured their support, without which he simply does not have the votes needed to push his cabinet through and become the nation's next prime minister.
Influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr—who is the leader of parliament’s largest faction—is among the most prominent supporters of Allawi. Iranian-backed entities such as the Badr Organization militia, headed by former Minister of Transportation Hadi al-Amiri, also support his nomination.
Kurdish politicians, however, have said that they reject Allawi’s method of picking his ministers. Leading Sunni politician Khamis al-Khanjar, though initially a supporter of the premier nominee, also decided to boycott the parliamentary session At the last minute.
Allawi’s proposed government, said Khanjar in a social media post on Thursday, “includes persons who are not qualified, or are associated with parties, or candidates to the satisfaction of some parties,” a key demand of national protesters who have been calling for an overhaul of the nation's political system that they see as inherently corrupt.
The proposed cabinet consists of 23 ministries, Allawi has said, maintaining that all of its candidates are “independent,” a claim that protesters have shown great skepticism about, especially given the fact that he has made the unusual move of attempting to keep their names private until the vote.
According to a list viewed by Kurdistan 24, five ministries remained without candidates, including at least three that are expected to go to Kurds: Minister of Finance, Minister of Justice, and Minister of State for the Region’s Affairs.
Editing by John J. Catherine