Iraqi Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi has been informed of the candidates for vacant seats in the cabinet of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, his office said.
The list received by Halbousi includes the names of candidates for the post of Deputy Prime Minister. They are Fouad Hussein, Khaled Battal and Ali Haider Abdul Amir.
Kadhimi’s list also includes Fouad Hussein for the Foreign Ministry, Hakim Salar for the Justice Ministry, Ihsan Abdul-Jabbar for the Oil Ministry, Hassan Nazim for the Culture Ministry, Muhammad Karim for the Agriculture Ministry, Alaa al-Jabouri for the Trade Ministry, and Ivan Faeq for the Ministry of Migration and Displacement, according to an informed parliamentary source.
Last month, the Iraqi parliament approved a new government headed by Kadhimi after six months of deadlock.
However, voting on the oil and foreign affairs portfolios was postponed while deputies rejected the PM’s picks for trade, justice, culture, agriculture and migration portfolios.
Parliament is expected to meet on Saturday to vote on the remaining vacant ministerial seats.
Member of the Hikma Movement parliamentary bloc MP Jassem al-Bakhati said that several deputies from different blocs found it necessary to establish a parliamentary political alliance to press for the adoption of laws.
“The new bloc will be announced following a meeting of several political blocs in the house of Hikma Movement leader Ammar al-Hakim, in the presence of the Nasr parliamentary grouping, the Kafaat bloc and the Irada bloc,” he said.
Independent MP Mohammed al-Soudani, a former minister, confirmed a plan to establish the parliamentary coalition.
He told Asharq Al-Awsat that the alliance is necessary to avoid the tension that prevailed in the relationship between the former prime minister and the parliament.