Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi proposed a new Cabinet lineup to the country’s lawmakers on Thursday.
Al-Abadi came before the parliament on Thursday to tell lawmakers that he has reduced the number of Cabinet ministers to 16, from the previous 21-member government, the Associated Press reported.
He submitted the names of nominees for 14 ministerial positions, but said he would not replace the current defense and interior ministers, “given the current hard situation.”
The parliament now has 10 days to confirm al-Abadi’s nominees — or potentially gridlock the process.
Thursday’s developments come against the backdrop of weeks of protests by thousands of followers of the influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. His supporters have continued their sit-in outside the Iraqi capital’s heavily fortified Green Zone, following al-Sadr’s calls for political reform and an end to corruption.
On Thursday, all roads leading to Baghdad’s Green Zone were closed and riot police and security forces were deployed around the area, the AP said.
Shortly after the parliament session, al-Sadr called on his supporters to end their sit-in, but to continue “peaceful protests in all Iraqi provinces every Friday to put pressure on lawmakers to vote on the new Cabinet.”
Al-Abadi named Nizar Salem al-Numan as a candidate for the key post of oil minister.
Al-Abadi also named prominent Shi’ite politician Ali Allawi for the post of finance minister and tagged Sharif Ali bin al-Hussein, a relative of Iraq’s king deposed in 1958, for foreign minister, state TV added.