Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kazemi is ready to launch consultations to form a new cabinet after four months of failed attempts, amid the spread of coronavirus and drop in oil prices. The political blocs now have no choice other than submitting names of candidates to the cabinet because the country can’t withstand more delay.
The influence of the political blocs and parties which prevented previous candidates, Mohammad Tawfiq Allawi and Adnan al-Zurfi, from forming cabinets, is no longer powerful especially that all parties feel that the country has reached a political deadlock.
Kazemi now enjoys a near-national consensus after receiving an unprecedented consensus from Shiite components, some of which previously accused him of “conspiring with the US." He also has no issues with Sunnis and Kurdish components who welcomed his nomination.
Meanwhile, blocs know there is no room for wiggling and are forced to accept the PM’s conditions for naming competent candidates that he can accept without dictations.
Vice President of Turkmen Front Hasan Turan announced that his party supports Kazemi’s mandate to form the next government.
Turan told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Front hopes the government will be presented before the constitutional deadline, given that the country's conditions do not bear further delay.
He explained that reports indicate Kazemi’s negotiations with political blocs are “satisfactory and positive”, which means that the cabinet will pass the parliament’s vote.
Head of National Coalition bloc, Kazem al-Shammari, affirmed that the National Coalition represented by its leader, Iyad Allawi, was among the first blocs to support the nomination of Kazemi.
Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, Shammari indicated that his bloc held an official meeting with the PM-designate after his assignment and presented him with a set of ideas.
He pointed out that his coalition gave Kazemi the complete freedom in choosing his ministers, and urged him not to submit to political pressures.
Shammari called upon political blocs and partners to give Kazemi the full freedom in choosing his cabinet and support him at this critical stage. He urged them to back the PM rather than create crises that could hinder his job.
