Iraq’s acting prime minister gives up most duties, calls for snap elections

Iraq’s acting Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi says he will stop fulfilling most of his duties while calling for snap elections, a day after prime minister-designate, Mohammad Tawfiq Allawi, withdrew his candidacy after the divided parliament failed to approve his new cabinet.

In a letter to President Barham Salih on Monday, Abdul Mahdi said he would take “voluntary absence” and would not carry out most of his official duties. He asked for a deputy prime minister or minister to chair the cabinet meetings.

“I announced on February 19 that the constitutional deadline of 30 days to secure the vote of confidence in the new government from the parliament and its ministerial platform would expire on March 2. And I stated that at the end of this period, ‘I will have no choice but to resort to the solutions stipulated in the constitution or the internal system of the Council of Ministers,’” Abdul Mahdi said in his letter.

The Iraqi constitution now puts the president, a Kurd, in charge as acting premier. He has 15 days to designate a new candidate but there is a bumpy road ahead as parties still remain divided along ethnic and sectarian lines.

Iraq's Prime Minister-designate resigns after parliament fails to approve cabinet

Iraq

Political turmoil began in Iraq in early October 2019, when public grievances grew, pressing the government to initiate reforms that would eliminate corruption and alleviate the economic woes.

Protests, however, soon turned violent, amid reports of foreign interference. Hundreds of people, including members of security forces, were killed.

In November, Abdul Mahdi resigned under the pressure of growing demonstrations. The parliament approved his resignation in early December, but he had retained the position ever since as caretaker prime minister.

His decision on Monday, which will further increase a persisting power vacuum, was taken after Allawi withdrew overnight, accusing legislators of obstructing his attempt to form a government.

Iraqi parliament defers confidence vote in PM-designate for 3rd time due to lack of quorum

Iraq’s parliament fails for a third time to reach quorum for a vote of confidence in the PM-designate’s government.

On Sunday, only 108 lawmakers of the 329-member parliament, known as the Council of Representatives of Iraq, attended the extraordinary session, which had already been delayed twice last week, on Saturday and Thursday, over a lack of quorum.

Allawi, a 65-year-old former communications minister, was appointed as the new premier by Salih on February 1, after the parliament missed a deadline set by the president to nominate someone for the post.

Earlier, Shia cleric Moqtada Sadr, whose bloc is the largest in parliament and supports Allawi, had threatened to organize mass protests outside parliament unless the legislators backed the new cabinet in a confidence vote.

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