Update: PM-Designate Barzani submits KRG cabinet list to parliament
Prime Minister-Designate Masrour Barzani submitted his cabinet nominations on Monday. Parliament will review the nominations and may vote on some of the candidates Tuesday.
- Masrour Barzani, Prime Minister
- Qubad Talabani, Deputy Prime Minister
- Firsat Ahmed Abdulla, Minister of Justice
- Shorish Ismael, Minister of Peshmerga
- Reber Ahmed, Minister of Interior
- Awat Sheikh Janab, Minister of Finance and Economy
- Saman Barzinji, Minister of Health
- Alan Hama Saeed, Minister of Education
- Dana Abdulkarim, Minister of Construction and Housing
- Sasan Auni, Minister of Municipalities and Tourism
- Aram Mohammed, Minister of Higher Education
- Dara Rashid, Minister of Planning
- Kwestan Mohammed, Minister of Labor and Social Affairs
- Mohammed Saed Ali, Minister of Youth and Culture
- Abdulla Mahmood, Minister of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs
- Begard Talabani, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources
- Kamal Muslim, Minister of Trade and Industry
- Ano Jawhar, Minister of Communication and Transportation
- Pshtiwan Sadiq, Minister of Religious Affairs
- Kamal Mohammed Salih, Minister of Electricity
- Aydin Maruf, Region Minister
- Vala Fared, Region Minister
- Khalid Salam Saeed, Region Minister
Note: The controversial post of the Minister of Natural Resources was omitted on the PM-Designate's list.
11:08 a.m.
Kurdistan Region parliament meeting may affect provincial council law
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region –The Kurdistan Region's parliament is due to vote on an amended version of the current provincial council law on Monday. New amendments would see the appointment of governors from outside the framework of provincial councils, though they would need to be approved by the council through a vote.
With Iraq’s already delayed provincial elections unlikely to be held soon, the dominant Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) want to appoint new governors for Erbil, Duhok, and Sulaimani, capitalizing on an amended version of the existing provincial council law.
“Political, security and economic conditions in the Kurdistan Region are not suitable for provincial elections. That is why governors will be appointed until next provincial elections are held. But provincial councils will vote on appointed governors,” KDP MP Hevidar Ahmad at the Kurdish parliament told Rudaw on Sunday.
The KDP wants to appoint new governors in their strongholds of Erbil and Duhok as a new cabinet of the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) is due to be sworn in Wednesday.
“After the existing provincial council law is amended, new governors will be appointed for Erbil and Duhok and candidates for these two positions are now ready,” a KDP official requesting anonymity told Rudaw.
The province of Sulaimani has now been run by a Change Movement (Gorran) governor for two-and-a-half years following a bilateral agreement in 2014 with the PUK to run the posts of Sulaimani and Halabja governors by turn with each taking the post for two years.
Six months have now passed over the completion of the term of the Gorran governor in Sulaimani, but the PUK has not yet officially asked for the post due to its preoccupation recently with settling the post of Kirkuk governor with the KDP, Hoshyar Ismael, PUK member at Sulaimani provincial council, told Rudaw.
“The PUK will decide on this matter after the new KRG cabinet is formed,” Ismael said.
But Gorran has said it will not hand over the post to the PUK.
“This is not a PUK share,” Sewa Khidir, a Gorran member of the Sulaimani Provincial Council, told Rudaw.
The PUK against Gorran in the 2018 election in Sulaimani than it did in the 2013 election. In the Kurdistan Region, voters are free to vote for any candidate regardless of their home province.
The Kurdistan Region held parliamentary elections on September 30, 2018, with the ruling KDP winning 45 seats in the 111-seat legislature. The PUK won 21 seats, and the Change Movement (Gorran) 12.
No party won an outright majority to form the government alone, forcing the KDP to negotiate a coalition deal with its nearest rivals, the PUK and Gorran.
The Kurdistan Region has been run by a caretaker government for the past nine months.
The PUK Leadership Council announced its candidates for vice president, deputy prime minister, speaker of parliament, and three ministers on Saturday.
Parliament delayed its summer recess, scheduled for July 1, for 15 days on Sunday to buy more time for Prime Minister-Designate Masrour Barzani of the KDP and political parties to offer candidates to the legislature.
Reporting by Nawzad Mahmoud; Translation by Salim Ibrahim