Iraq’s efforts to form a new government pressed on this week as Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Allawi – appointed earlier this month by President Barham Salih (MEES, 7 February) – advanced several names for the new cabinet, including Husain al-Chalabi as Minister of Oil.
It is still unclear whether Mr Allawi will succeed in his bid to become Iraq’s next PM, taking over from Adil Abd al-Mahdi whose one-year reign was derailed by the heavy-handed response to protests which resulted in multiple fatalities (MEES, 8 November 2019). Like Mr Abd al-Mahdi, his successor is something of a ‘consensus’ candidate to appease the major Shia parties – albeit Mr Allawi has closer ties to Iran. (CONTINUED - 318 WORDS)
