During the evening session, Mustafa al-Kazimi, the former head of Iraqi intelligence, took the oath of office as head of government to Parliament.
The Iraqi Council of Representatives (Parliament) on Thursday expressed confidence in the Government of the new Prime Minister, Mustafa al-Kazimi, and approved his programme. This was reported by Sky News Arabia.
According to the channel, during the evening session Mustafa al-Kazimi, who previously headed Iraqi intelligence, took the oath of office as the head of government to parliament. Since the ouster of Saddam Hussein in 2003, he has been the sixth Iraqi Prime Minister.
Deputies approved 15 of the 20 candidates proposed by al-Kazimi, including the heads of the Interior Ministry, Defence Ministry and Finance Ministry. Five candidates were rejected, including the Ministers of Trade, Agriculture, Migration and Refugees, and Justice, as well as the head of the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Antiquities.
Voting for the candidates of the Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Oil was originally postponed to a later date, as the political factions have not yet agreed on the candidates. In forming the cabinet, al-Kazimi relied on political blocs to represent them in parliament. For example, 11 ministries were given to Shiite forces, including the Foreign Ministry, Interior Ministry, Oil, Electricity, Health, Transport, Culture, etc., and six to Sunnis, including the Ministries of Defence, Education, Industry, Planning, Trade, and Youth and Sports. The Kurds received three portfolios – finance, justice and housing, and two more for Christians. In total, the new government will have 22 ministers.
Thus, it was only six months later that Iraq managed to overcome the government crisis.