Iraq's intelligence head Al-Kadhimi named new Prime Minister-designate after political blocks supported his candidature.
Iraq President Barham Salih has named country's intelligence head Al-Kadhimi as the new Prime Minister who will replace Adnan al-Zurfi, previous designated Prime Minister who failed to form the government after political blocks did not support his candidature. The Iraqi Kurdish and some Sunni political blocs pushed to support the nomination of intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kadhimi to replace the current Prime Minister-designate Adnan al-Zurfi to form a new government.
The Iraqi Forces Coalition, a major Sunni political bloc headed by the Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, on Wednesday announced in a statement its support to nominate al-Kadhimi to be the prime minister-designate, Xinhua news agency reported. Also on Wednesday, Nechirvan Barzani, prime minister of the government of Iraq's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, said in a statement that his government supports the nomination of al-Kadhimi to form the new government.
On March 17, Iraqi President Barham Salih named al-Zurfi as the prime minister-designate to form an interim government after the Shiite political blocs failed to nominate a candidate for the post due to deep differences. The latest push to nominate a new prime minister-designate by the major political blocs has decreased al-Zurfi's chance to pass his cabinet lineup in the parliament.
(With inputs from IANS)
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