By Omar al Jaffal for Al Monitor. Any opinions expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. On Sept. 5, unidentified gunmen attacked the home of Ann Nafaa Awsei, the newly appointed minister of construction, housing and public municipalities, in the Iraqi capital, which resulted […]
By John Lee. Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has accepted the resignations of the ministers of oil, transport, housing and construction, water resources and industry, as well as interior, which had been previously announced. Abadi has previously called for the cabinet to include technocrats, a call later taken up by Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, but […]
By John Lee. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of Baghdad to protest at a months-long political crisis and lack of reform, according to BBC News. Supporters of the Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr (pictured) marched towards the Green Zone to press Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to push ahead with his plan […]
By John Lee. Iraqi lawmakers voted on Friday to remove the parliament speaker, Salim al-Juburi (pictured), and his deputies. The move further delays Prime Minister al-Abadi's efforts to appoint a new 'technocrat' cabinet. It came a day after a fist-fight reportedly broke out between lawmakers in the parliament hall following an overnight sit-in. (Source: AFP)
From AFP. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Iraq Business News. Iraqi lawmakers held an all-night sit-in at parliament protesting efforts by powerful political blocs to maintain control of key government posts, pushing the speaker to convene an emergency session Wednesday.
By John Lee. Several dozen members of Iraq's parliament held an overnight sit-in in the parliament building to demand that Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stick to his plans for cabinet reform. In central Basra, several hundred supporters of Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr blocked the main street voicing similar demands, according to Reuters. Abadi was forced to […]
By John Lee. Associated Press reports that Iraq's parliament has delayed a vote on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's new technocrat cabinet. The reduction from 21 cabinet ministers to 16 was met with opposition from Iraq's powerful political blocs, which rely on patronage systems to remain in power, with several nominees withdrawing. He left ministers of […]
By John Lee. Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi's nomination for the position of Finance Minister has withdrawn his candidacy, a week after the withdrawal of his proposed Oil Minister. According to Gulf Today, Ali Allawi (pictured) cited “political interventions and partisan bickering” for his decision. The US-educated former banker had already served as finance minister […]
By John Lee. The Prime Minister's nominee for the post of oil minister in his new 'technocrat cabinet' has reportedly withdrawn his candidacy, apparently because he had not been formally proposed by the main Kurdish groups. Nizar Saleem Numan, a 65-year-old Kurdish petroleum geologist, who is the dean of the college of planning at the University […]
By John Lee. Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called for parliament to either support or reject his calls for a technocratic government, pushing back against a looming deadline for a new cabinet, according to a report from AFP. He said Parliament must decide if it wants him "to present ministers from the political blocs or […]
By John Lee. The Iraqi Parliament has set a deadline of Thursday this week for Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to present a new cabinet. Nearly two months ago, Abadi said he would replace the current ministers with “technocrat” figures who are no affiliated with political parties. "If Abadi fails to present his new cabinet, he […]
