Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s parliament is set to vote on May 14 on Prime Minister-designate Ali Al-Zaidi’s cabinet despite not yet receiving the names or résumés of candidates for ministerial posts, Hoqooq parliamentary bloc* member Miqdad Al-Khafaji said Wednesday.

Speaking to Shafaq News, Al-Khafaji described the process as “an unsuccessful beginning” for the incoming administration, arguing that the cabinet was being formed on the basis of partisan, sectarian, and ethnic power-sharing rather than competence and integrity.

The bloc hoped candidates’ names and résumés would be submitted to lawmakers at least 48 hours before the confidence session to allow time to assess their qualifications and records, he said, warning of a possible boycott if lawmakers remained unconvinced by the ministerial nominees.

Basra MPs Uday Awad and Amer Al-Fayez had also warned that lawmakers from the province could boycott the session if Basra was denied key ministerial portfolios.

Iraq’s parliament presidency has officially scheduled Thursday for the vote on Al-Zaidi’s cabinet following days of political disputes over the timing of the announcement and the distribution of portfolios among rival factions. Political sources earlier told Shafaq News that disagreements persist over sovereign and security ministries, particularly the oil and defense portfolios, raising the possibility that Al-Zaidi could present only part of his cabinet for approval.

* Hoqooq is the political wing of the armed group Kataib Hezbollah and is part of the Shiite Coordination Framework, the largest bloc with about 162 of parliament's 329 seats.

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