The sectarian quotas are one of the obstacles preventing the building of solid institutions in Iraq because the people chosen to run the ministries have no experience in the fields they are supposed to be managing. The Ministry of Culture was particularly affected, as previous governments appointed two ministers without expertise in cultural work.
Ahmed al-Salmani, a National Union of Forces parliamentarian, said, “Most of our [ministry] candidates are technocrats and not from our parties.” In an interview with Al-Monitor, Salmani stated, “The Union of Forces will have candidates from outside the blocs allied with the union and technocrats. Most of the candidates are outside the framework of partisanship.”
Salmani believes that the ministries that the conference of intellectuals and trade unionists asked to be excluded from quotas are “highly specialized.” He said, “Our candidates will have professional competence in the provision of public service and administration of ministries.”
Ibrahim Khayat, spokesman for the Executive Office of the General Union of Writers and Authors in Iraq, said, “None of the political blocs have called the conferees,” stating that the political blocs are dealing with intellectuals “silently.” He told Al-Monitor, “Not only did the writers union organize the conference, but it also sent a message to [the president, parliament speaker and prime minister-designate] to distance the Ministry of Culture from sectarian quotas, but we have yet to receive a response.” According to Khayat, “The political blocs are turning a blind eye to these demands.”
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