Parliament prepares to finalize cabinet formation and create new ministries

Attention is turning toward the House of Representatives tomorrow, Thursday, to vote on vacant ministries and deputy prime ministers, in a step aimed at completing the governmental lineup after five months of suspended executive entitlements, coinciding with ongoing preparations to discuss the 2027 draft budget. Prime Minister Ali Falih Al-Zaidi had proposed, in an official correspondence addressed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, holding a session on Thursday, October 15, 2026, to present candidates for deputy prime ministers and vacant and newly created ministries and vote on them, pointing out that the deputy prime ministers will not receive salaries or financial allocations, and no new offices will be established for them. In the same context, MP Kazem Al-Shammari confirmed the existence of a consensus within the Coordination Framework regarding the date of the session, explaining that the proposed structure includes the creation of three ministries: Tourism, Digital Technology, and a State Ministry. Al-Shammari clarified that separating tourism from the Ministry of Culture aims to develop religious and archaeological tourism and invest in Iraq's historical potentials, while the creation of digital technology comes to unify directorates and software companies distributed among ministries and support governance and automation, stressing that the new structure will rely on existing staff and departments without the need for additional appointments or financial allocations. For his part, MP Haider Al-Asadi indicated that the names submitted by political parties to fill the vacant positions underwent auditing and review within the Council of Ministers. This move to complete the cabinet lineup coincides with parliamentary preparations to discuss the 2027 budget bill, amidst assurances from members of the Finance Committee that completing the government formation will support budget preparation and determine spending priorities, investments, and financial obligations. In this regard, parliamentary Finance Committee member Riyadh Al-Tamimi explained that budget preparation is fundamentally linked to executive government procedures, while committee member Ghufran Iqbal Al-Shammari stated that the arrival of the anticipated project will allow for the study of its clauses and investment projects and the review of financial obligations. Furthermore, MP Safaa Al-Jabiri emphasized the importance of adopting the program and performance budget methodology to link government spending with actual results, while political researcher Aed Al-Hilali considered completing the government and appointing its ministers an institutional necessity to unify executive decision-making and face various financial challenges. Al-Hilali pointed out that the proposal related to adopting an exchange rate of 1500 dinars per dollar imposes a review of assumptions regarding revenues and expenditures, considering that finalizing the cabinet is a fundamental step to mature the budget bill and enable its discussion and approval properly.