Egypt welcomes Iraqi Cabinet formation, wishes new PM success

CAIRO – 7 May 2020: The Egyptian Foreign Ministry has welcomed the formation of the Iraqi Cabinet led by Prime Minister-designate Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, wishing him success in meeting people’s aspiration.

On Wednesday night, the Iraqi Parliament granted confidence to the Cabinet of Kadhimi after it approved most of his ministerial candidates. Subsequently, he took oath as the new prime minister, to succeed Adil Abd Al-Mahdi, who resigned in the wake of public protests.

In a statement, the ministry wished Kadhimi success in leading the government and achieving people’s aspiration for stability and prosperity.

It also affirmed Egypt’s willingness to work on supporting the Iraqi government to achieve its goals and its keenness to enhance Egyptian-Iraqi cooperation through refreshing bilateral relations in the economic field.

The vote of confidence session was attended by 255 out of 329 parliament members, according to media reports. The Parliament approved 15 ministers, while adjourned vote on the candidates for oil and foreign ministries.

Anti-regime protests in Iraq, which started in October, have resulted in the death of hundreds of Iraqis and forced Abd al-Mahdi to resign.

Iraq’s President Barham Salih then appointed Mohammed Allawi, a former communications minister, and Adnan Al-Zurfi, the head of the country’s intelligence consecutively as prime ministers, but both failed to secure the required support among political blocs inside the parliament.

Taking oath, Kadhimi becomes the first prime minister to form the government in Iraq after Abd Al-Mahdi. However, his incomplete Cabinet will require him to find new candidates for the vacant posts and seek a compromise with political blocs, amid an unprecedented economic crisis caused by the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Iraq has recorded around 2,480 coronavirus cases and 102 deaths since the crisis started, according to Worldometers.