Iraq parliament holds off vote on ministers

BAGHDAD: Iraq’s parliament convened on Tuesday without lining up a vote on who would head several key ministries, including defence and the interior, several months after polling.

On October 25, lawmakers gave their stamp of approval to 14 of the country’s 22 ministries, with the finance, foreign affairs and oil ministers named. Due to deep divisions, the remaining eight portfolios were not put to a vote at the time, and parliament announced it would reconvene on November 6.

But as lawmakers gathered for Tuesday’s session in Baghdad’s Green Zone, a copy of their agenda distributed to AFP did not include a vote of confidence on the empty posts. Instead, they were to discuss the 2019 budget, form parliamentary committees and address the mysterious deaths of thousands of fish in the Euphrates.

No new date was announced for a vote of confidence. In Iraq, major political decisions are typically taken by consensus after drawn-out negotiations among different coalitions jockeying for power.