The power struggle over sovereign portfolios threatens the confidence vote session; Parliament faces the choice of postponement or partial approval.
The power struggle over sovereign portfolios threatens the confidence vote session; Parliament faces the choice of postponement or partial approval.
5-13-2026
Information / Report…
Despite the official announcement that the parliamentary session to grant confidence to the government of Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zaidi is scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, doubts and uncertainty still linger in the political landscape regarding its feasibility. Strong indications suggest it will be postponed until further notice due to the deep and escalating disagreements among political forces over the distribution of key ministerial portfolios.
Informed parliamentary sources confirmed to the Information Agency that the influential blocs and parties have yet to reach a final consensus on the allocation of these important ministries. This leaves the constitutionally mandated timelines vulnerable to forced postponement unless urgent political agreements are reached in the coming hours to resolve the quota system impasse and ensure the cabinet’s approval in parliament.
In this context, the Reconstruction and Development Bloc, headed by Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, indicated on Wednesday that the confidence vote session for Prime Minister-designate Ali al-Zubaidi’s government is likely to be postponed until next Saturday, citing three main reasons preventing it from being held on schedule.
Ali Hussein, a leading figure in the bloc, told the Al-Maalomah news agency, “It is very likely that the confidence vote session scheduled for tomorrow, Thursday, will be postponed until next Saturday.” He explained that “the first reason is the failure to finalize the nominations for some ministerial portfolios.”
He added that “the second reason relates to the fact that several major political forces, including the Reconstruction and Development Bloc, the State of Law Coalition, and the Sadiqun Movement, have not received their electoral entitlement in the new cabinet.” He pointed out that “the third reason is the intention to present three names for some ministries, from which one will be chosen through a direct vote in the parliament.”
For his part, Hussein al-Saabri, a leading figure in the Iraqi Foundation Coalition and a former member of parliament, revealed sharp political disagreements over some ministerial portfolios, ruling out the possibility of finalizing the entire cabinet formation in the near future.
Al-Saabri told the Al-Maalomah news agency, “The significant and ongoing disagreements between political blocs over certain ministries are preventing the cabinet from being approved all at once in parliament.”
He added that “the prime minister-designate may resort to presenting only 14 candidates from his cabinet to parliament for a vote of confidence as a first step,” explaining that “this approach aims to facilitate the government’s formation and postpone resolving the remaining contentious ministries until a second stage after gaining confidence.”
almaalomah.me
