Baghdad debate intensifies over sovereign ministries and security authority

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraqi political circles are grappling with renewed disputes over the management of the country's security file and the future of sovereign ministries, with critics warning that external influences are shaping security decisions. The controversy has been amplified by several sovereign ministerial posts remaining vacant, a situation some observers say risks concentrating security authority within the Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Office. Supporters of a stronger Commander-in-Chief Office argue that consolidating security decision-making would reinforce state authority and unify the chain of command. Opponents counter that such a shift would unsettle the balance of power among state institutions and reshape the role of political blocs in sensitive policy files. Within the Coordination Framework, the main Shiite political alliance, disagreements continue over the distribution of sovereign positions and the unresolved file of the Interior Ministry. The disputes have left the government navigating between its stated goal of strengthening state authority and competing local and regional power calculations. No breakthrough has been announced, and both sides appear entrenched as the debate over Iraq's security architecture drags on.