Iraq's premier presented a new list of cabinet nominees on Tuesday that angered some lawmakers, who criticised it as perpetuating the system of ministries being distributed according to political quotas. Parliament descended into chaos after the session was postponed to Thursday, with lawmakers shaking fists and chanting against political quotas and then beginning a sit-in.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi has called for a government of technocrats to replace the current party-affiliated ministers, but has faced major resistance from powerful parties that rely on control of ministries for patronage and funds. He presented a list of 13 cabinet nominees to parliament on March 31, but lawmakers later said that the political blocs would nominate other candidates, a process that apparently resulted in the current list of names.
Abadi gave the new list of candidates to parliament speaker Salim al-Juburi, then met with him and leaders of the political blocs, according to posts on their official Twitter accounts. But with major disagreement over the proposed list of candidates, the session was postponed until Thursday, Juburi's office said. Lawmakers chanted "The people want the fall of the quotas!" after the session ended, according to video shot inside parliament.
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