Kurdistan24 Exclusive: Iraqi PM Plans to Replace Three Ministers
Iraqi PM Ali al-Zaidi plans to replace ministers in three ministries, including oil and education, a source says, pending talks with political parties.
ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi intends to replace the ministers of three ministries over reservations about their performance, a well-informed source told Kurdistan24 on Saturday.
According to the source, Zaidi has reservations about the Ministries of Oil and Education and a third ministry in his cabinet, and wants to change their ministers. He has not yet made a final decision and is expected to do so after consulting political parties.
Parliament approved part of Zaidi’s cabinet on May 14, but some ministers failed to win the required votes amid disagreements between political parties, and the process was delayed.
Nearly five months later, on Oct. 15, parliament gave its confidence to more ministers and to three deputies of the prime minister. The vote on one deputy and on the Minister of Migration and Displacement was postponed to a later date.
Changing ministers in the Iraqi government is among the steps that regularly meet major obstacles. Iraq’s political system is built on a quota-sharing arrangement among components and political parties, so removing or replacing any minister requires the consent of the party that holds the post.
Iraqi prime ministers have repeatedly sought to change ministerial posts in the past to improve public services and curb corruption. Those steps have often stalled because the parties could not agree.