Mustafa Al-Kadhimi took oath as prime minister of Iraq after Parliament voted to grant confidence to his Cabinet.
The Iraqi parliament approved Kadhimi’s government at an emergency session held early Thursday morning, after appointing over half of the ministers on his proposed cabinet list.
The prime minister was sworn in after meeting the threshold needed to form his government.
Serving as the head of Iraq’s National Intelligence Service (NIS) from 2016, Kadhimi had revised his proposed cabinet several times in recent weeks to appeal to various political factions in Baghdad.
He is the third person to serve as prime minister-designate since former PM Adel-Abdul Mahdi’s resignation, with previous candidates unable to appease groups in parliament.
The following ministers have been approved by the parliament.
- Juma Inad – defense minister
- Osman Ghanimi – interior minister
- Ali Allawi – finance minister
- Khalid Najim – planning minister
- Hassam Mohammed – health minister
- Majid Mahdi – electricity minister
- Adnan Dirjal – sports and youth minister
- Manhal Aziz – industry minister
- Arkan Shahab – communications minister
- Adil Hashush – labor minister
- Ali Hamid – education minister
- Nazanin Mohammed – reconstruction, housing and municipality minister
- Nabil Abdulsahib – higher education and technology minister
- Mahdi Rashid – minister of water resources
- Nasir Hussein – transport minister
The names rejected by lawmakers for ministerial posts include Ali Nawar Nasif as trade minister, Hashim Salih as culture minister, Ali Ismael as agriculture minister and Hikmat Nasir as migration and displacement minister, Iraqi media reported.
Voting for the foreign and oil ministers has been delayed until further notice.
Source: Iraqi media
