The cabinet reshuffle opens a new crisis… The new government is caught between the dilemma of political balance and the points system.
Political activity is accelerating in Baghdad, amid a race against time to form the new cabinet. Negotiations have entered a complex phase among political forces seeking to secure their shares of sovereign and service-oriented ministries. As the deadline approaches, technical and political complications have surfaced, hindering the official announcement. Conflicting views persist regarding the mechanism for distributing ministerial spoils, around which power centers are concentrated. Meanwhile, the prime minister-designate and his supporting committees are attempting to decipher the complex “points system” and overcome the obstacle of rotation, which some parties reject while others insist upon it.
This has left the government formation process open to all possibilities in the coming hours. In this context, Mohammed Daham, a leader in the Azm Alliance, revealed the lack of a final agreement among political blocs regarding the mechanism for “rotating” major ministries. Daham explained to the Information Agency that “consultations have not yet led to common understandings regarding the ministries of Foreign Affairs, Finance, Education, and Higher Education, in addition to the service-oriented portfolios.”
He indicated that his alliance “submitted its list of candidates independently,” expecting that “Azm” would receive one sovereign ministry in addition to the Ministry of Culture, pinning hopes on a resolution in the coming hours if “a consensus formula is reached that guarantees political balance.”
On the other side, the situation within the Coordination Framework does not appear any easier, as numerical calculations have hindered the finalization of ministerial quotas.
Abeer al-Husseini, a member of the political bureau of the Hikma Movement, told Al-Maalouma that “technical disagreements still exist regarding the distribution of sovereign portfolios allocated to the framework’s components,” emphasizing that “the obstacle to a resolution lies in the mechanism for implementing the adopted points system.” She stressed that negotiations are seeking to overcome the overlapping ministerial demands to ensure that each bloc receives its due based on its electoral weight.
With the activity continuing in the corridors of power, the situation remains contingent on overcoming the points “veto” and distributing the sovereign spoils, while the public awaits the formation of a government capable of meeting the demands of the current stage, far removed from the power-sharing conflicts that continue to cast their shadow over the negotiating scene.
Almaalomah.me