State of Law accuses parliament leadership of ‘manipulating’ confidence vote

BAGHDAD — Lawmakers from the State of Law Coalition on Saturday accused Iraq’s parliament leadership of manipulating vote counts and rushing procedures during Thursday’s session that approved Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government, as political tensions continued following chaotic scenes inside the chamber.

Yousef al-Kalabi, a coalition lawmaker, said the parliament’s presidency had used its authority “to confiscate the votes of lawmakers” during the vote on cabinet nominees. “What happened was a clear betrayal and an insult to the council,” he said in a post on X, adding that the official video released from the session “hid most of what happened.” He said the events “cannot be tolerated at all,” adding, “This did not happen even in 2005 at a time when there was killing based on identity.”

Hisham al-Rikabi, head of media for State of Law Coalition leader Nouri al-Maliki, accused Parliament Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi of procedural violations during the cabinet vote, saying the alleged violations caused interior ministry nominee Lt. Gen. Qassem Atta to fail despite receiving majority support. Huqooq bloc leader Hussein Mounes also criticized the handling of the session, questioning the accuracy of the vote count.

Video from inside the chamber showed verbal disputes and physical altercations between lawmakers during discussions over the interior ministry nomination, prompting Halbousi to temporarily suspend the session before adjourning it after the cabinet vote. Parliamentary sources said the confrontations involved lawmakers from several blocs and centered primarily on the nomination of Atta, with disagreements over the planning and higher education nominees also contributing to the tensions.

The Azm Alliance separately objected after parliament rejected its nominees Ahmed Nazim al-Azzawi for planning and Ibrahim al-Namis for culture, calling the outcome a matter requiring “a serious political review” to preserve “the principle of partnership and political balance.”

Parliament approved 14 ministers Thursday during a session attended by 266 lawmakers. Confidence was withheld from nominees for planning, culture, higher education, interior and construction and housing, while voting on defense, labor, migration and youth and sports was postponed. Zaidi officially assumed office Saturday during a handover ceremony at the Government Palace attended by former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.