Sadrists shall nominate the new Minister of Health, MP of the State of Law says

Shafaq News/ MP of the State of Law Coalition, Abdulhadi al-Saadawi, said on Sunday that the Ministry of Health in Mustafa al-Kadhimi’s cabinet belongs to the Share of Sairoon Alliance, supported by the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr.

Al-Saadawi said in a statement to Shafaq News Agency, “each ministry in al-Kadhimi’s government is affiliated to a political party which has voted for the Prime Minister, and the Ministry of Health is from the share of the Sairoon Alliance.”

He revealed, “The new Minister of Health, which will be designated by PM al-Kadhimi, will be nominated by the Sairoon Alliance which is affiliated with the Sadrist Movement, since the Ministry in the current government is their share.”

He added that the government of al-Kadhimi was formed according to political and sectarian quotas and that the designation of the new Minister will follow the same formula.

The former Minister of Health, Hasan al-Tamimi, resigned ten days after the fire in the Ibn Khatib COVID-19 hospital that killed more than 80 people.

Hassan al-Tamimi, who joined the government with the backing of powerful Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr, stepped down of his own accord.

Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi, a non-partisan independent who regularly extends a hand to the Sadrists – the largest parliamentary bloc – suspended al-Tamimi in the wake of the fire, along with many other officials. The government lifted the suspension later, but he resigned.

The fire highlighted the neglect of a healthcare system that was once one of the best in the Middle East but has been racked by conflict, international sanctions, the US-led invasion in 2003, and rampant corruption.

The blaze broke out in the pre-dawn hours of April 25, sparked by the explosion of badly stored oxygen cylinders. Many of the victims were on respirators being treated for COVID-19 and were burned or suffocated in the resulting inferno that spread rapidly through the hospital, where dozens of relatives were visiting patients in the intensive care unit.

The results of the probe into the incident blamed lower-level officials.

The director of the Ibn al-Khatib hospital, his administrative deputy, the head of the hospital’s civil defense, and the head of the health department in eastern Baghdad "were dismissed and will be subject to several disciplinary measures".

The government has ordered hospitals across the country to review and implement better health and safety procedures.