Iraqi lawmakers urged the country’s new Prime Minister on Tuesday to quickly assign the critical posts of Defence and Interior Minister which will spearhead domestic efforts to combat the advance of extremist Sunni militants.
Addressing lawmakers late on Monday night, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi requested an additional week for the selection of these positions, saying that names have been proposed but the various political blocs have yet to reach a consensus. Lawmakers approved all of the candidates proposed for the new government, with the exception of a few posts, including the tourism and the water resources minister.
Like many positions in the Iraqi government, the job of Defence Minister has, in recent years, traditionally been assigned to a Sunni, while the Interior Minister has been a Shia. Lawmakers say the country is at too critical a juncture to focus on such practices.
“I have fears that the vacant posts, mainly the Defence and Interior, will run without ministers or they will be given to persons affiliated to political parties instead of to people who are independent and professional,” Sunni lawmaker Hamid al-Mutlaq told The Associated Press by phone.
The Anbar province lawmaker called on Mr. Abadi’s government to “prove its credibility and good intentions.”
Salim al-Muslimawi, a Shia lawmaker from Babil province, said any further delay in naming a Defence and Interior Minister risks making the government appear weak and divided. He called the generally rapid selection of other Cabinet posts “a positive step in tackling the many problems facing the country.”
Another Shia lawmaker, Walid al-Hili, said Mr. Abadi on Monday had the names of independent Sunni and Shia candidates for both posts, but “didn’t want to submit them without a national consensus ... he’ll submit them in the coming few days, no more than a week.”
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani called the government formation a “new era” and expressed hope for closer relations between the two countries, Iran’s official IRNA news agency reported on Tuesday.
The White House said President Barack Obama called Mr. Abadi on Monday to congratulate him and the Iraqi people on approval of a new government.
