Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq’s political blocs have reached a preliminary agreement to reactivate two vice presidency positions, with Taqaddum (Progress) Party leader Mohammed Al-Halbousi and Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) chief Falih Al-Fayyadh proposed for the posts, an informed source told Shafaq News on Sunday.
The proposal emerged from talks within the State Administration Coalition, which brings together Iraq’s main Shiite, Sunni, and Kurdish parties. Under the arrangement, the two vice presidents would receive only their basic salaries, without additional office allocations or new civil service posts, similar to the terms applied to deputy prime ministers.
Restoring the offices has featured prominently in bilateral meetings and broader political negotiations, the source said, although the agreement remains subject to formal approval and no implementation timetable has been announced.
The positions have remained vacant for years. Former Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi abolished them in 2015 as part of a reform drive, but Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court later ruled the decision unconstitutional, leaving the offices legally intact.
In April, political sources disclosed discussions about appointing former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, leader of the Shiite State of Law Coalition (SLC), and Al-Halbousi as vice presidents under a broader political settlement. A separate source revealed in May that Al-Halbousi was pursuing a senior position in the next government, potentially as vice president or deputy prime minister.
The negotiations are taking place within Iraq’s muhasasa system, a post-2003 power-sharing arrangement that allocates senior government positions among major political and ethnic blocs. Al-Halbousi is a prominent Sunni leader, while Al-Fayyadh heads the PMF and is aligned with the Shiite political camp.
On Thursday, Parliament approved three deputy prime ministers under Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi and filled 11 ministerial portfolios, including vacant and newly created posts. The Ministry of Migration and Displacement remained unfilled.