Iraqi parliament is expected to complete Prime Minister Ali Falih al-Zaydi’s government at a session on Thursday, five months after it was approved, by voting on candidates for vacant ministerial portfolios, alongside proposals to create three ministries and appoint four deputies to the prime minister.
Parliament to consider vacant portfolios and government expansion
The session will put political forces’ understandings over the distribution of responsibilities and influence to a parliamentary vote. The ministries whose nominees are expected to be voted on include the interior, defence, planning, culture, housing and construction, higher education, youth and sport, labour and social affairs, and migration and the displaced.
These portfolios have remained without permanent ministers since the government was approved, and in recent months have been managed by ministers and deputy ministers chosen by the prime minister. The proposals also include creating three portfolios: tourism and antiquities, artificial intelligence, and a ministry of state, alongside the appointment of four deputy prime ministers.
If parliament approves the three new ministries, the total number of portfolios in the government will rise to 26, in addition to the four deputy prime minister posts. MP Haider al-Asadi said in an interview with the state-run Al-Sabah newspaper published on Wednesday that candidates put forward by political parties for the vacant posts had undergone vetting and review within the Council of Ministers.
Passing the ministers and appointing the deputy prime ministers requires agreement among the political blocs, enabling al-Zaydi to end the acting management of ministries and complete his government team after months of vacancies. Parliament approved on 14 May the government, comprising 23 ministerial portfolios, but at the time approved ministers for only 14 portfolios, leaving nine ministries vacant.
Government expansion tests distribution of powers
The anticipated vote would advance procedures to complete the government formation, but approval of the names remains dependent on the ability of existing political understandings to translate into votes in the Council of Representatives. Questions surrounding the government expansion are not limited to the distribution of posts, as its effectiveness will depend on the clarity of the new officials’ powers and their ability to coordinate.
Increasing the number of posts alone does not guarantee faster decisions or improved performance, particularly with the proposal to appoint four deputy prime ministers. This would require defining the files each deputy will oversee and organising their relationship with ministers to prevent overlapping jurisdictions and responsibility being divided among several bodies.
Regarding the financial cost of the proposed posts, al-Zaydi said in a letter to parliament, the contents of which were reported by Al-Mada newspaper, that his four deputies would work without salaries or financial allowances and without any new appointments to their offices. Nevertheless, the distribution of powers remains a key factor in assessing the impact of the expansion and its ability to coordinate work and speed up decision-making on files involving the responsibilities of several ministries.
Artificial intelligence ministry raises implementation questions
The proposal to create a ministry for artificial intelligence has also prompted discussion about the nature of the tasks it would undertake, its relationship with existing government institutions, and the programme through which its creation could become a practical addition to administration and services.
The combination of filling vacant portfolios and expanding the number of ministries means the impact of the parliamentary session will go beyond selecting ministers to shaping the nature of relations within the government team. Observers of Iraqi affairs expect the formation to pass in order to complete the government before discussions begin on the 2027 federal budget bill, which they estimate will take place over the next two weeks.
If that happens, the budget discussions will provide an early test of whether the forces that agree on the distribution of posts can also agree on spending priorities and mechanisms for allocating resources.
The outcome of Thursday’s session will depend on the political blocs’ ability to consolidate their understandings within parliament and then translate them into coordination in managing ministries and implementing decisions. The clarity of the powers of ministers and deputy prime ministers, and the extent of their cooperation, will determine whether completing the government formation affects the work of institutions and the services awaited by Iraqis.
