Iraq parliament approves 11 ministers, three deputy PMs

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s parliament on Thursday approved 11 ministers and three deputy prime ministers, among them Laith al-Khazali of Asaib Ahl al-Haq, who is under U.S. terrorism sanctions, filling all but one of the vacancies left in Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s cabinet five months after his government took office. The vote on a fourth deputy was postponed after lawmakers from the Kurdistan Democratic Party walked out.

The 261 lawmakers present at the session, chaired by Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi, approved Mohsen Ali Akbar al-Mandalawi, a former first deputy speaker of parliament, Khazali and Mohammed Ali Tamim, a former deputy prime minister and planning minister, as deputy prime ministers. The vote on the KDP’s nominee, Faris al-Barifkani, was postponed after the party’s lawmakers withdrew, and the vote on the migration and displacement ministry was also deferred.

Nayef al-Shammari was approved as defense minister and Yasser al-Maliki as interior minister, filling the two portfolios that had held up the cabinet longest. Lawmakers also approved Qutaiba Ghazi for planning, Haider Bahaa al-Husseini for higher education and scientific research, Yassin al-Eithawi for culture, Rebaz Hamlan for construction and housing, Mohammed al-Mousawi for labor and social affairs and Safaa al-Kinani for youth and sports. Hamlan, the KDP’s nominee, had failed to win approval on May 14, and Mousawi was Sadiqoun’s nominee.

Three new posts were created: Mohammed Sahib al-Darraji as minister of digital economy and governance, Ali al-Dakhili as minister of tourism and antiquities, split off from culture, and Mohammed Samaan as minister of state for minority affairs. The Services Alliance, the bloc associated with Kataib al-Imam Ali leader Shibl al-Zaidi, had named Darraji as a candidate for the digital ministry after giving up its claim to a deputy prime minister post. The newspaper Al-Mada reported on Monday that the new ministries were being allocated to armed factions as part of talks over their weapons, and that Asaib would receive the labor ministry and the deputy premiership for Khazali.

The United States designated Asaib Ahl al-Haq a Foreign Terrorist Organization in 2020, and Laith al-Khazali and his brother Qais, the group’s leader, Specially Designated Global Terrorists. Sadiqoun, Asaib’s political wing, said this week that Zaidi had tried during his September visit to New York to ease U.S. objections to Khazali, that it hoped he would one day become prime minister, and that it was working to have him removed from U.S. sanctions lists.

Sadiqoun’s Hussein al-Shihani said earlier this week that the deputies would draw no extra salaries or privileges and would have equal authority, overseeing government projects, with Khazali responsible for public services rather than security. Politician Izzat al-Shabandar said on Wednesday that Zaidi had not made clear whether the deputies would hold any constitutional powers.

Parliament approved Zaidi’s government on May 14, confirming 14 of 23 ministers and leaving nine portfolios unfilled amid disputes among the blocs, chiefly over interior and defense.