ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Iraqi President Barham Salih urged Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi to fill the remaining vacant seats in his cabinet with “efficient and impartial” candidates during a meeting in Baghdad on Thursday.
Salih received Kadhimi at the presidential palace in the Iraqi capital to discuss several issues, including the completion of the new cabinet, according to a statement from Salih’s office published on Twitter.
“During the meeting, they discussed the necessity to complete the ministerial cabinet by nominating efficient and impartial personalities, and supporting the government in implementing its program approved by the House of Representatives,” the statement read.
The Iraqi parliament approved Kadhimi’s cabinet at an emergency session on May 7, after agreeing to more than half of his appointees.
However, MPs rejected five of his proposed candidates, leaving seats at the cabinet table for the ministers of trade, agriculture, justice, culture, and migration and displacement empty.
The Iraqi parliament also postponed its vote on the ministers of foreign affairs and oil.
The seats are expected to remain empty for another month, according to Fahad al-Jubouri, a member of the Shiite movement al-Hikma's political bureau.
“It was expected to fill the seats in Kadhimi’s cabinet before Eid, but this process has been postponed until further notice, and it is expected to be postponed for another month until an agreement is reached,” Jubouri told Rudaw on Wednesday.
Candidates for the ministries of trade, culture, agriculture, justice, and migration and displacement have now been decided upon by political parties, but have yet to be announced or formally elected, Jubouri also confirmed.
However, disagreements remain between the political parties and with Kadhimi regarding candidates for the ministries of oil and foreign affairs.
One day after Kadhimi was sworn in as Iraqi PM, he appointed himself and six ministers from his cabinet to temporarily fill the vacant ministerial posts in an official decree published by Iraqi state media on May 12.
According to the decree, Kadhimi ordered Education Minister Ali Hamid to act as interim trade minister, Higher Education and Technology Minister Nabil Kadhim to act as interim justice minister, and Transport Minister Nasir Hussein to act as interim migration and displacement minister.
The PM has also ordered Finance Minister Ali Allawi and Minister of Sports and Youth Adnan Darjal to take charge of the oil and culture ministries respectively.
Kadhimi meanwhile is currently acting as interim foreign minister until political parties reach an agreement on a suitable candidate.
According to the Iraqi presidency’s statement, Salih and Kadhimi agreed to prioritize the government’s coronavirus response.
“Both sides agreed on facing the crisis that Iraq is going through at the moment, and giving priority to controlling the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic,” the statement added.
Iraq’s economy has taken a devastating hit in recent months. Measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 have severely impacted the finances of both the private sector and public institutions.
Oil prices have also dropped dramatically over the past several months, putting immense strain on the finances of a country reliant on oil for almost 90 percent of its annual budget.
Iraq has not passed any budgetary legislation for 2020, instead implementing last year’s bill which was adopted on the assumption that Iraqi crude would sell for $56 a barrel. The same amount of oil is currently worth around $28.
