Iraq cabinet confidence session remains uncertain, Deputy Speaker says

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraqi Parliament Deputy Speaker Farhad Atrushi confirmed on Tuesday that the date for a parliamentary session to grant confidence to the new government remains “unknown,” citing continued disputes and negotiations among the country’s Shiite and Sunni political forces.

Speaking to reporters at the Parliament building in Baghdad, Atrushi said that Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi has not yet formally requested a session to present his cabinet for approval.

Last week, al-Zaidi submitted a 14-point ministerial program to Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi ahead of an expected confidence vote. Under Article 76 of Iraq’s constitution, the prime minister-designate has 30 days from his April 27 nomination to form a government and secure parliamentary approval.

A lawmaker from the Shiite Badr bloc told Shafaq News, earlier today, that disputes within the Shiite Coordination Framework (CF), the largest bloc that named al-Zaidi, over the distribution of sovereign and security ministries were preventing him from finalizing his cabinet lineup. Separately, Shakhawan Abdullah, head of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) bloc, linked the possible delay in government formation to what he described as “regional and international interventions.”

On the Sunni front, political blocs have submitted competing candidate lists for ministerial posts in the incoming federal government, according to our sources.

Read more: Ali al-Zaidi named Iraq's prime minister: Easy nomination, harder road ahead