Kurdish MPs to vote for Iraqi PM-designate, Shias divided as parliament gathers: Lawmaker
Kurdish members of the Iraqi legislature will vote in favor of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi during a special parliamentary session late Wednesday, said a senior lawmaker from the Kurdistan Region who also noted that Shia parties, which make up the majority, are divided on the issue.
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ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – Kurdish members of the Iraqi legislature will vote in favor of Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi during a special parliamentary session late Wednesday in Baghdad, said a senior lawmaker from the Kurdistan Region who also noted that Shia parties, which make up the majority, are divided on the issue.
“In supporting Mustafa Kadhimi’s cabinet, Kurds are united,” the head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) bloc in the national parliament, Viyan Sabri, told Kurdistan 24 ahead of the session which was set to begin at 9 p.m. local time, but has reportedly been postponed to start an hour later.
She added that among those who are not expected to vote for the premier hopeful are lawmakers from the State of Law coalition, National Coalition, and some members of the Fatah Alliance. Despite this, the session is expected to meet the required quorum to hold a vote.
Sabri added that Kurds hold three ministries in Kadhimi’s proposed cabinet, although the key post of finance minister, currently filled by the KDP's Fuad Hussein, would go to another group. Instead, a Kurdish politician would receive the high-profile foreign ministry post.
Lawmakers are expected to vote on each ministerial nominee and Kadhimi separately. Scans of documents circulated online early Wednesday purported to show the list of the PM-designate’s cabinet members that included 20 names. However, last-minute changes may have been made amid political jockeying among different parliamentary blocs as is the norm in such votes in Iraq.
Kadhimi, who has served for years as the country’s intelligence chief, is the third candidate nominated to lead the nation after now-caretaker Prime Minister Adil Abdul Mahdi stepped down in late November as the consequence of a repressive crackdown on anti-government protesters that began in early October.
Erbil-Baghdad disputes, the coronavirus pandemic that is crippling governments worldwide, an ongoing protest movement that continues to demand systematic change in the national political system, potential economic repercussions of falling oil prices, and an uptick in attacks by remnants of the Islamic State are among a list of pressing issues Kadhimi would have to work to tackle, should he win over the legislature’s vote.
Editing by John J. Catherine