“The Government Cabinet”: 6 candidates compete for the Interior Ministry, and political committees decide on the vacant portfolios.
“The Government Cabinet”: 6 candidates compete for the Interior Ministry, and political committees decide on the vacant portfolios.
2026-07-04
Shafaq News – Baghdad
An informed source revealed on Saturday that the political forces that did not complete their share of the government cabinet, according to their electoral entitlement in the last parliamentary elections, have begun forming internal committees to sort and study the names of candidates to fill the ministries that fall within their government quotas.
The source told Shafaq News Agency that “the State of Law Coalition, led by Nouri al-Maliki, through its internal committee concerned with nominating candidates for the Ministry of Interior and submitting them to the Prime Minister to choose whomever he deems suitable for the position, is currently studying the resumes of six candidates, including former Minister Abdul Amir al-Shammari and Lieutenant General Qasim Atta. However, it is difficult to pass the nomination of the latter due to a local and regional veto, despite some parties continuing to pressure for his approval.”
He added that “the list also includes technocrat candidates, among them a lieutenant general with a doctorate from the Ministry of Interior, who has a long history in security and military service, as well as independent candidates.”
The source indicated that “the same applies to the Ministry of Higher Education, which falls under the State of Law entitlement, while the Ministry of Youth and Sports will be allocated to the Wisdom Movement, while the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs will be granted to the Sadiqun bloc.”
According to the source, it is likely that about 90% of the government cabinet will be completed before the Prime Minister’s visit to Washington in the middle of this month, coinciding with the final completion of the file on disarming the factions. He indicated that this file will be dealt with legally, as the judiciary will have a role in resolving it.
The Shiite Coordination Framework linked the completion of the ministerial formation of Prime Minister Ali Faleh al-Zaidi’s government to the results of his anticipated visit to the United States, stressing that the vacant ministries will not be decided before his return from Washington, according to a statement by the leader in the Coordination Framework, MP Amer al-Fayez, to Shafaq News Agency.
These developments coincide with an anticipated visit by al-Zaidi to Washington in mid-July, at the invitation of US President Donald Trump, which is seen as a pivotal moment in shaping the relationship between Baghdad and Washington.
According to information obtained earlier by Shafaq News Agency, Al-Zaidi will discuss economic and investment files during the visit, most notably the release of frozen Iraqi financial guarantees in the United States estimated at about $30 billion, in addition to security and political files related to the future of cooperation between the two countries.
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