US objections complicate Iraqi deputy premier picks
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq has put off naming its deputy prime ministers until the rest of the government is in place, in part because Washington objects to some of the candidates in the running, an informed source told Shafaq News on Tuesday.
Al-Zaidi, a businessman with no party of his own, took office in May with only 14 of 23 ministers approved. US officials have pushed to keep figures linked to Iran-backed armed factions out of senior government posts while pressing those groups to place their weapons under state control. Last month, US officials objected to several names proposed for deputy prime minister, including Qais al-Khazali, leader of Asaib Ahl al-Haq.
Choosing the deputies will take further negotiation because of those objections, the source said, adding that the posts were deliberately deferred to avoid delaying completion of the wider cabinet. According to the source, all Coordination Framework leaders had agreed to create the two deputy prime minister posts except former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who heads the State of Law coalition.
Firas al-Muslimawi, spokesman for the Reconstruction and Development Coalition, led by former PM Mohamad Shia Al-Sudani, told Shafaq News that reviving the posts of deputy president and deputy prime minister was an agreed political decision, and that candidates would be selected once the cabinet was finalized.
Lawmaker Abu Turab al-Tamimi told Shafaq News the new deputy posts were an unnecessary layer that would only slow the prime minister down, since each appointee would arrive with a party agenda of their own. “Creating any new government position wastes public money.”
The wrangling comes as al-Zaidi works to complete his cabinet. Iraqi President Nizar Amedi said this week that only two or three ministries remain unsettled and should be resolved soon. Al-Zaidi told the Coordination Framework that talks would conclude this week before the lineup goes to parliament for a vote next week, according to a statement from the bloc.
Read more: Al-Zaidi at 100 days: Iraq's toughest tests still ahead
