Iraqi politicians question PM's plan for technocrat gov't

By Haydar Hadi

BAGHDAD

Some Iraqi political actors on Tuesday questioned Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi’s ability to put together a cabinet of technocrats with the ostensible aim of eliminating corruption and factionalism within the government.

"Even though al-Abadi has asked various political groups to help choose technocratic candidates, this does not mean factionalism will not still exist in the new cabinet," Rasool al-Tai, an MP for the Ahrar bloc, which supports Iraq’s Shia Sadrist movement, told Anadolu Agency.

Salim Matar, an MP for the Federation of Iraqi Forces, the country’s largest Sunni parliamentary bloc, for his part, said al-Abadi lacked a "solid" reform strategy.

Zahir al-Abadi, an MP for Iraq’s ruling State of Law Coalition, meanwhile, said the fact that the prime minister had asked other political blocs to nominate candidates for the new technocrat government "will not in and of itself" eliminate the twin evils of corruption and factionalism.

He went on to warn that this strategy would only serve to deepen the country’s acute political crises.

"Most of the ministers in the current al-Abadi government are already drawn from different political groups," he said. "It is not logical to ask political parties -- the leaders of which already hold ministerial portfolios -- to nominate candidates [for the new government]."

"Instead of putting the responsibility on the political parties, the prime minister himself should choose members of the government based on their respective qualifications," he added.