Iraqi lawmaker says cabinet lineup to be completed next week

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A lawmaker from Iraq's Sadiqoun bloc said negotiations among political blocs have reached the final stage toward completing the cabinet lineup, with candidate names for vacant ministerial seats expected to be announced next week. Ahmed al-Musavi, a member of parliament from the bloc, said Prime Minister Ali al-Zaydi would submit the chosen names to the Iraqi parliament, after which a vote would be scheduled. Al-Musavi said the Sadiqoun bloc is entitled, based on its electoral results, to one ministry and one deputy prime minister position, adding that negotiations on those allocations would be concluded before the candidate names are announced. He did not specify which portfolios were under discussion. Separately, the prime minister has continued to run the Defense and Interior ministries on an acting basis and has expressed satisfaction with the current arrangement in those posts, according to earlier reporting. The Iraqi parliament granted a vote of confidence to the government of Prime Minister al-Zaydi and its program on May 14, 2026, with 14 of the 23 ministries voted on at the time. No further details on the timing of a parliamentary vote on the remaining ministers were immediately available.