Cabinet posts, faction weapons top CF talks
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq’s Coordination Framework (CF), an alliance of major Shiite political forces, will meet on Monday to push ahead with talks on filling the remaining cabinet posts and decide how to handle weapons held by armed factions, a source within the bloc told Shafaq News on Sunday.
Most of the Framework’s leaders are expected to attend the weekly meeting, with political groups seeking ministerial posts based on their share of seats in parliament. Under the latest formula, one category-A service ministry would count as an entitlement equivalent to 20 parliamentary seats, while another would be worth 12 seats. The political groups involved will coordinate with other blocs if they reach an agreement before putting the candidates to parliament for a vote, the source said.
Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi indicated at a Framework meeting on Aug. 31 that negotiations over the remaining cabinet positions were nearing a conclusion, with the candidates then to be sent to parliament for approval. Earlier today, another source told Shafaq News that al-Zaidi intends to select candidates for the nine vacant cabinet posts himself if nominees agreed by political blocs fail to secure parliament’s confidence.
Weapons held by armed factions are expected to be another key issue at Monday’s meeting. The source described an initial understanding among Shiite political forces to put negotiations over the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) and the management of factional weapons on hold until parliament passes amendments to the PMF bill.
Last week, an informed source told Shafaq News that two PMF-related bills were nearing referral after provisions that drew US objections were removed. The drafts cover the PMF Restructuring bill and the PMF Service and Retirement bill.
“The legislation has broad backing among the Shiite forces within the Framework,” he said, adding that leaders will examine which provisions need to be changed and agree on a draft that can move through parliament.
Read more: Iraq's PMF Service and Retirement Law: Is political exploitation inevitable?
