Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq's constitution reserves a quarter of parliamentary seats for women, but when it comes to cabinet, there is no such guarantee, and in the country's newly formed government, the bargaining produced one.

Sarwa Abulwahid, assigned the Environment portfolio, is the sole woman in the cabinet of Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi, down from three female ministers in the previous administration. The reduction reflects a structural gap in Iraqi law that has shaped every government formed since the US-led invasion in 2003.

Iraq's constitution enshrines principles of equality, non-discrimination, and equal opportunity, but contains no binding provision requiring female representation at the ministerial level. Legal expert Mohammed Juma told Shafaq News that while those constitutional principles "require that female representation be taken into account when forming governments," the absence of an enforceable quota leaves the matter entirely subject to political negotiation and party selection.

The result, across more than two decades of post-2003 governance, has been inconsistency. Women have held portfolios spanning health, environment, human rights, finance, communications, and migration, but always at the discretion of coalition arithmetic, never by legal requirement.

The previous administration of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, formed in October 2022, recorded the highest female ministerial presence since 2003, with three women in cabinet-level roles: Taif Sami Mohammed as Finance Minister, Hiyam Aboud al-Yasiri as Communications Minister, and Evan Faeq Gabro as Minister of Migration and Displacement. The al-Zaidi government represents a sharp reversal.

Read more: Quotas without a cause: Iraqi Women counted, rights discounted

Nesreen Barwari became the first woman to hold a ministerial post after 2003, serving as Minister of Municipalities and Public Works from 2003 to 2006. Others followed across successive administrations —in human rights, labor, education, science, and women's affairs— but representation never stabilized into expectation.

Member of Parliament Inaam Alaa Al-Din, of the State of Law Coalition, told Shafaq News that female representation in government had not reached the required level, particularly for women from central and southern Iraq. She stopped short of calling the current outcome discriminatory. "It is not yet possible to speak of clear discrimination against women," she said, while arguing that genuine political participation requires "conditions that allow genuine competition and equal access to senior offices."

The current count may not be final as Iraq's Council of Representatives this week approved 14 ministerial nominees by absolute majority but rejected candidates for nine portfolios —including Planning, Culture, Higher Education, and Interior. Those positions remain vacant, and appointments to fill them could yet include additional women.

The broader picture, however, points to a ceiling that quotas have not reached. Iraq's parliament, under its constitutional 25% threshold, currently seats 82 women among its 329 members. The cabinet, formed through negotiation among political blocs, has produced one.

Read more: What does Iraq's new government promise? A guide to Ali Al-Zaidi's ministerial program