Baghdad: Iraq’s parliament failed to approve Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi’s candidates for the sensitive posts of defence and interior ministers in a vote on Tuesday, according to state television.
Mithal Al Alusi, a prominent secular politician, said that the main Shiite alliance prevented the appointments.
The men — Riad Al Gareeb nominated for the post of interior minister and Jaber Al Jaberi as defence minister — did not win the needed majority vote, state television said.
Al Abadi received parliamentary approval for most cabinet positions last week.
The Badr Organization, a powerful political and paramilitary group with close ties to former premier Nouri Al Maliki, which is part of the alliance, has coveted the interior ministry post, and political sources said they were angered by Al Abadi’s choice.
“The National Alliance objected, saying that the position of the interior ministry is their right. They refrained from voting which led to the failure of the candidates to get enough votes,” Al Alusi said.
Jaberi is considered a moderate Sunni with strong ties to Islamists who would help foster Al Abadi’s plan for an inclusive government to regain Sunni support, especially in areas where Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant fighters are the dominate force.
The nomination of Ghareeb, a Shiite, had been seen as a concession to Al Abadi’s own Dawa party, in which Al Maliki is a member. Ghareeb was also seen as less divisive than Badr candidates, who Sunnis feel are too closely linked to militia.
In his second term as prime minister, Al Maliki held on to the interior and defence posts despite a formal agreement to give the defence ministry to the main Sunni political bloc, isolating Sunnis.
