Iraq’s parliament on October 15 approved 11 ministers and three deputy prime ministers for Ali al-Zaidi’s government, while postponing votes on the migration minister and a fourth deputy premier.
The session, chaired by Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi, was attended by 261 lawmakers and addressed vacancies that had remained since the government took office in May. Among the newly approved ministers are Nayef al-Shammari for defense, Yasser al-Maliki for interior, Qutaiba Ghazi for planning and Haider Bahaa for higher education. Lawmakers also approved appointments for culture, construction and housing, labor and social affairs, youth and sports, tourism, digital economy and governance, and a minister of state for minority affairs.
The three deputy prime ministers approved were Mohsen al-Mandalawi, Laith al-Khazali and Mohammed Ali Tamim. A vote on migration and displacement minister Roaa Amer Salem was deferred amid political disagreement; the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s lawmakers also walked out, and the vote on its nominee for a fourth deputy premiership was postponed. The approved ministers and deputies took the constitutional oath before the session ended.
The vote fills most of the cabinet’s outstanding posts, though the delayed appointments leave two decisions unresolved.