Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi delivers a speech during the vote on the new government at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad. Article content. The prime minister of Iraq is the head of government of Iraq.The prime minister was originally an appointed office, subsidiary to the head of state, and the nominal leader of the Iraqi parliament.Under the newly adopted constitution the prime minister is the country's active executive authority. "The security, stability and blossoming of Iraq is our path," he tweeted.However, Mr Kadhimi will not start his term with a full cabinet.Political factions are still negotiating over the candidates for the key ministries of oil and foreign affairs, while lawmakers rejected his picks for trade, justice, culture, agriculture and migration.The US and the United Nations welcomed the formation of a new government, but urged Mr Kadhimi to move swiftly to address Iraq's problems.The 53-year-old Shia Muslim is seen as a political independent and a pragmatist.He is a former journalist who wrote against former President Saddam Hussein from exile in Iran and the UK before the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. Previous Next. But he still had to compromise on his list of proposed ministers several times.Mr Kadhimi told lawmakers on Wednesday that his government "will provide solutions, not add to the crises" facing Iraq.Before Covid-19 reached the country in March, thousands of people were taking to the streets of the capital, Baghdad, and many southern cities to express their anger at endemic corruption, high unemployment, dire public services and foreign interference.More than 500 protesters were shot dead by security forces and unidentified gunmen during five months of unrest. Iraq appoints new Prime Minister as mass anti-government protests continue in Baghdad. Iraq's new prime minister reinstates popular general to head of counter-terrorism Nationwide demonstrations were sparked last September in which at least 600 protesters were killed (Reuters)For five months, Iraq had no government following the resignation of former Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi, who stepped down as anti-government protesters took to the streets in their thousands, demanding jobs and the departure of Iraq's ruling elite. Al-Khadhimi was Fifteen of the cabinet posts have been filled, but some remain vacant – including foreign affairs, justice, oil, agriculture, and trade – as major political parties failed to form a consensus on how they should be allocated.The new leader was welcomed by the US and Saudi Arabia, among other countries.David Schenker, the State Department’s top diplomat for the Middle East, said of al-Kadhimi: “If Kadhimi is an Iraqi nationalist, dedicated to pursuing a sovereign Iraq, if he is committed to fighting corruption, this would be great for Iraq, and we think it would be great for our bilateral relationship.”A source close to al-Kadhimi told AFP that the new leader “has a unique personality and a pragmatic ideology, in addition to having good relations with all the players involved in Iraq. The country has registered about 2,500 cases, among the lowest in the region, but politicians and health officials are unsure whether those numbers would explode if they lift restrictions.Although Mr. al-Kadhimi faces a litany of problems, his presence on the political stage signals a degree of flexibility in a political system that seemed deadlocked. Anti-government protesters rejected Mr Kadhimi's nomination He promised early elections and rejected the use of Iraq as a battleground by other countries.The prime minister also pledged to address the repercussions of the economic crisis by rationalising spending and negotiating to restore Iraqâs share of oil exports.He was known to oppose the rule of the late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. After the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003, al-Kadhimi returned to Iraq and cofounded the Iraqi Media Network, running in parallel with his work as executive director of the Al-Kadhimi also served as editor-in-chief of Iraq's Newsweek magazine for three years from 2010. al-Kadhimi ultimately will have to decide when to fully open the government, for instance, and when to allow foreign airlines to resume flights to Iraq, a move that is important for business, but could also be hazardous.Mr.
He has good relations with the Americans and a recently recovered relation with the Iranians.”But Iraq risks being further caught in the middle of tensions between Washington and Tehran, as militia groups vow revenge for the killing of Iran’s top commander Qassem Soleimani and his associate in Iraq Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, who were killed on Iraqi soil.Iraq’s new leader faces myriad challenges, but before his rise to political prominence, he had a career in journalism and later served as the country’s spy chief.Mustafa al-Kadhimi was born in Baghdad in 1967, and studied law before becoming a journalist, where he was known for his opposition of the late Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mustafa al-Kadhimi delivers a speech during the vote on the new government at the parliament headquarters in Baghdad.
Oil and gas revenues, the government’s main source of income, are historically low.And simmering tensions between the United States and Iran have played out in skirmishes on Iraqi soil that could turn into a wider war.Plummeting energy prices have nearly halved Iraq’s operating revenue, making it likely Mr. al-Kadhimi will have to either cut salaries for government workers or drastically reduce their numbers in the next few weeks.Either way, with the government as the country’s largest employer, the decision would have dramatic consequences.It will also fall to Mr. al-Kadhimi and his advisers to determine when and how to reopen the economy and lift the curfews that have The virus appears to have had relatively little impact on Iraq.
He served as head of Iraqi National Intelligence Service (Inis) from 2016 until last month, when he was tasked with forming a government.
The country is dealing with multiple crises, including an economy hit hard by the low price of oil – Iraq’s principal source of revenue – and the coronavirus pandemic, which has wrecked economies across the globe, and there is optimism al-Khadimi will be able to set Iraq on a path to recovery.Described as having a “unique personality,” Iraq’s new prime minister has promised to fight corruption, limit access to weapons to those within the government, and return the displaced to their homes.