Iraqi parliament approves cabinet nominees
Shafaq News- Baghdad (Updated on Oct. 17, at 8:19)
Iraq's parliament on Thursday approved the nominees for deputy prime minister and for vacant and newly created ministries in Prime Minister Ali Al-Zaidi's cabinet.
Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi chaired the session, the 26th of the current term, with 261 lawmakers present, according to parliament's media department. Iraqi President Nizar Amedi, Al-Zaidi, and the nominees attended.
The approved nominees are:
1. Deputy Prime Minister: Mohsen Ali Akbar al-Mandalawi
2. Deputy Prime Minister: Laith Hadi Sayyid al-Khazali
3. Deputy Prime Minister: Mohammed Ali Tamim
4. Interior Minister: Yasser Abd Sukhail Mohammed al-Maliki
5. Defense Minister: Nayef Mukayyif Shanan al-Shammari
6. Planning Minister: Qutaiba Ghazi Majeed Hameed
7. Higher Education and Scientific Research Minister: Haider Bahaa Saheb al-Husseini
8. Culture Minister: Yassin Mohammed Hamad al-Aithawi
9. Construction, Housing and Public Municipalities Minister: Rebaz Mohammed Abdullah Hamlan
10. Labor and Social Affairs Minister: Mohammed Raad Jawid al-Mousawi
11. Youth and Sports Minister: Safaa Mahdi Saleh al-Kinani
12. Digital Economy and Governance Minister: Mohammed Saheb al-Daraji
13. Tourism Minister: Ali Abdul Hadi Mohammed al-Dakhili
14. Minister of State: Mohammed Samaan Kanaan Yousef
The Ministry of Migration and Displacement remains vacant. Parliament also did not vote on Faris Siddiq Nouri al-Barifkani, the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s (KDP) nominee for deputy prime minister, although he appeared on the final list of nominees it released on Thursday. No reason was given for leaving either post unfilled.
The new deputy prime ministers and ministers took the constitutional oath before parliament, after which the session was adjourned.
Earlier on Thursday, a group of lawmakers rejected the creation of deputy prime minister posts and new ministries, saying they were based on partisan quota-sharing at a time when spending should be cut.
