Nominations of Iraqi ministers rejected

Shia parties in Iraq have rejected the ministerial nominations of Prime Minister-Designate Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed reported on Sunday. The London-based website said that Al-Kadhimi had agreed to at least 12 ministerial nominees proposed by the Shia party officials.

According to one anonymous Iraqi MP, the leaders of the Shia parties met on Saturday night at the home of former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, and then told the PM-designate that they rejected a lot of his nominees. The MP said that they would nominate new candidates for each ministry from which Al-Kadhimi can choose.

The same source claimed that Al-Maliki, the leader of the State of Law Coalition, and Hadi Al-Ameri, the head of Al-Fatah Coalition, are the “prominent obstacles” in the efforts to form a new government in Iraq.

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There are concerns in Baghdad that a number of political parties are working to undermine the process, as happened with Al-Kadhimi’s predecessors as PM-designate, Tawfiq Allawi and Adnan Al-Zurfy. The intention, said Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, is to push Iraq to turn to ousted Prime Minister Adel Abdel Mehdi to form the administration.

However, Al-Fatah Coalition blames Al-Kadhimi for the failure to form a government. It accuses him of accepting the conditions laid down by the political blocs affiliated to the Kurds and Sunnis. Al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition wants Al Kadhimi to apologise and accuses him of “double standards” regarding the nomination of ministers.

Political factions across the country have warned that the delay could reflect negatively on the economic situation and the livelihoods of the Iraqi people.