Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Shia al-Sudani speaks during a vote on Sudani's cabinet at the parliament in Baghdad, Iraq, October 27, 2022. (Iraqi Parliament Media Office/Handout via REUTERS)
BAGHDAD: Iraqi lawmakers approved a new government on Thursday ending over a year of deadlock, but still faces many challenges.
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani,52, who previously served as Iraq’s human rights minister as well as minister of labour and social affairs, will head the new government.
Prime minister-designate Mohammed Shia al-Sudani (left) shaking hands with Parliament Speaker Muhammad al-Halbousi at the parliament on October 27, 2022. (IraqI Parliament / AFP)
Sundai's picks for 21 ministries passed during a parliament vote on the Cabinet. He named the head of state-run South Gas Co. (SGC) Hayan Abdul Ghani as oil minister.
Thursday's parliament session comes a year after an election in which populist Shi'ite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr was the biggest winner but failed to rally support to form a government.
Sadr withdrew his 73 lawmakers in August and said he would quit politics, prompting the worst violence in Baghdad for years when his loyalists stormed a government palace and fought rival Shi'ite groups, most of them backed by Iran and with armed wings.
