Iraqi Parliament Approves New Government

Facts

• On Thursday, Iraq’s parliament approved a new government after a year-long political deadlock, headed by newly-appointed PM Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, who previously served as Iraq’s human rights minister, and minister of labor and social affairs.
• This comes a year after an election that saw the influential Shiite Muslim cleric Moqtada al-Sadr win but fail to rally enough support to form a government. In August, the cleric ordered the resignation of his 73 lawmakers and announced plans to leave politics, triggering violent protests.
• A majority of the 253 lawmakers present on Thursday appointed al-Sudani's 21 ministers. However, two posts — the Construction and Housing Ministry and the Environment Ministry — remain undecided. This is the first government since 2005 that doesn't include seats for al-Sadr's bloc.
• The new prime minister and his cabinet are faced with a myriad of challenges, including soaring unemployment, declining infrastructure, and widespread corruption. Al-Sudani has vowed to meet these challenges and pledged to hold early elections "within a year."
• In a first step toward ending the political deadlock and forming a new government, Iraqi lawmakers elected Abdul Latif Rashid as president earlier this month. In the lead-up to this, a series of rockets hit the Green Zone and other parts of Baghdad.
• When al-Sudani was first nominated as PM in July, al-Sadr loyalists stormed the Green Zone and the Iraqi parliament. Despite concerns that Thursday's vote would see fresh violence, there were no reports of unrest.

Sources: Al Jazeera, Arab, Washington Post, France24, New York Times, and Associated Press.

Narratives

• Pro-establishment narrative Guardian. The formation of a new government brings a much-needed end to the year-long political deadlock that has left Iraq without a 2022 budget, held up spending on critical infrastructure, and impeded economic reform. While there's still a long way to go, the new government has put forward a promising program to help the country get back on track.
• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by Washington Institute. This new government might resolve Iraq's political deadlock, but it isn't the solution needed to move away from Iraq's defunct political system, which faces challenges far beyond what the new prime minister has outlined. While the new cabinet's success remains to be seen, going in with one eye shut — as al-Sudani is doing — is an approach doomed to fail, with an inevitable Sadrist uprising on the horizon.