According to Article 61, the parliament must approve the appointment of the president and members of the Federal Court of Cassation, chief public prosecutor and the president of Judicial Oversight Commission, ambassadors, the army chief of staff and his assistants, division commanders and ranks above and the director of the intelligence service.
“Just as the parliament approves the appointment of state senior officials, independent commission heads and military commanders, it must also approve their dismissal; therefore, the prime minister has limited powers over the members of parliament,” Bakri said.
“In the event of the prime minister appointing senior officials by proxy, as is the case now, their dismissal is also the responsibility of the prime minister. For this reason, the latter may extort and control them, in his attempt to impose a dictatorship. However, resolving the problem of acting officials by ending the prime minister’s control and monopoly over the activities of government institutions will not eradicate the sectarian and party quota system in force since 2003.”
Finding a solution to the issue of acting senior officials will not be easy. The implementation of the constitution, including the parliament's power to approve candidates for senior positions, will be colored by the sectarian quota system, like the distribution of Cabinet portfolios, despite that average Iraqis as well as elites are opposed to this type of approach.
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