Cabinet may not be complete until after the coalition leaves, MP says

BAGHDAD — Negotiations over Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s unfinished cabinet could run past Sept. 30, when the U.S.-led coalition is due to leave Iraq, a State of Law lawmaker said, with no nominees yet submitted for the defence ministry.

Duha al-Qasir told Alawla TV that the Hasm Alliance had not put forward names for defence and that candidates for labour and social affairs had not been submitted either. Blocs are giving the prime minister three names per ministry and leaving the choice to him, she said.

State of Law is claiming three ministries and has settled health, leaving interior and higher education. “The State of Law’s entitlement is three ministries, of which the Ministry of Health has been settled, leaving the ministries of interior and higher education,” Qasir said. Its interior nominees are Qasim Atta, Yasser al-Maliki and an unnamed military figure — Atta having been the coalition’s nominee for the same post when parliament rejected him on May 14. Amer al-Khuzaie is among its three names for higher education.

She said State of Law now considers itself the largest Shia bloc in parliament after departures from the Reconstruction and Development Coalition. A proposal to split the culture, tourism and antiquities ministry in two is under discussion without agreement, she said, and she rejected a proposal for four deputy prime ministers, arguing it would add cost while the government struggles to fund salaries and payments to wounded PMF members and the families of those killed.

On weapons, Qasir said restricting them to the state “requires understandings, negotiations and realistic plans that grant political entitlements to those who hand over their weapons.” She called on the government to send PMF legislation to parliament and said Sunni and Kurdish backing would be needed for security laws.

Parliament approved 14 ministers on May 14 and rejected nominees for planning, culture, construction and housing, higher education and interior, postponing votes on defence, labour, migration and youth and sports. Zaidi told Coordination Framework leaders on Aug. 10 that completion was close, without giving a timetable. Security adviser Qasim al-Araji said Monday that Sept. 30 applies to the coalition’s departure rather than as a disarmament deadline, after Zaidi said in July there would be no justification for any faction after it.