Shafaq News- Baghdad

Fawaz al-Jarba is expected to take a parliamentary seat representing Iraq’s Nineveh province after lawmaker Abdul Rahim al-Shammari was approved as Agriculture Minister in the country’s new government lineup, a source within the High Electoral Commission (IHEC) told Shafaq News on Thursday.

Al-Jarba serves as the first reserve candidate for the Reconstruction and Development Alliance, led by former Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. The bloc secured four positions in Nineveh and won a total of 46 parliamentary seats in the November 2025 parliamentary election.

Under Iraq’s constitution and the principle of separation of powers, lawmakers appointed to ministerial positions generally give up their parliamentary seats to concentrate on executive responsibilities. Iraqi MPs previously advanced a proposal requiring incoming ministers in the government of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi to sign written pledges preventing them and close relatives from running in future elections.

Earlier today, the Council of Representatives of Iraq approved 14 ministerial nominees by an absolute majority vote, filling key portfolios across economic, social, and diplomatic sectors. Lawmakers also rejected nominees for the ministries of Planning, Culture, Reconstruction, Higher Education, and Interior.