Since his appointment as Prime Minister in October 2018, Adil Abd al-Mahdi has prioritized reforms to Iraq’s all-important energy sector (MEES, 26 October 2018). As a former oil minister himself, Mr Abd al-Mahdi has a solid grasp of the sector’s challenges, and works closely with Oil Minister Thamir Ghadhban and Electricity Minister Luay al-Khateeb.
But navigating Iraq’s convoluted political landscape is never an easy task – and the prime minister’s tumultuous first six months haven’t proved an exception. Lacking a political power base of his own, as he has a consensus appointment between the two parties which secured the most votes in last year’s parliamentary elections – Muqtada al-Sadr’s Sairoun and Hadi al-Amiri’s Fatah – Mr Abd al-Mahdi’s scope for maneuvering is even more limited than his predecessors. (CONTINUED - 1030 WORDS)
