Al-Kadhimi arrives Parliament, likely to pass the vacant portfolios

Shafaq News / Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi arrived on Saturday, at the parliament building to attend the voting session on the completion of his government, amid parliamentary expectations of passing the ministers of the seven vacant portfolios.

"Al-Kadhimi arrived at the parliament building to attend the voting session for the seven vacant portfolios (oil, foreign affairs, justice, agriculture, culture, immigration and displaced),” A source told Shafaq News Agency.

For its part, Kurdistan Democratic Party bloc affirmed in the Iraqi parliament said that there is consensus and political agreement to pass all the vacant ministerial portfolios in today's parliament session.

"All vacant ministerial portfolios will be passed during today's session , there is consensus and political agreement on the necessity of completing the government cabinet, so that the government would work properly, especially with the presence of the financial and health crisis,” The representative of the bloc, Dalia Haji told Shafaq News Agency.

Haji indicated that "there are some parties, perhaps they will try to stop the passage of all vacant ministerial portfolios, but in the end, they will be passed as there is an agreement on this matter, especially since each deputy would vote according to his/ her conviction."

On Tuesday -May 12- Al-Kadhimi issued bureau orders, which include assigning current ministers in the vacant portfolios.

Among these orders was to assign the Minister of Education with the mission of the Minister of Justice, the Minister of Finance with the mission of the Minister of Oil, the Minister of Youth and Sports with the mission of the Minister of Culture, the Minister of Education as the Minister of Trade and the Minister of Transport as the Minister of Immigration and Displacement.

The Iraqi parliament approved a new government headed by Al-Kadhimi, after six months of deadlock without a government as the country battles an economic crisis and the coronavirus pandemic., where two commissioners before Al-Kadhimi, namely Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi and Adnan Al-Zurfi had been rejected because no consensus was obtained by the political forces.

As voting on the Oil and Foreign Affairs portfolios was postponed after the parties failed to agree on candidates. The deputies rejected Al-Khadimi’s picks for trade, justice, culture, agriculture and migration portfolios.