Shafaq News..NPC to pick candidates for Iraq’s Sunni ministries

Shafaq News- Baghdad

Iraq’s Sunni National
Political Council (NPC)* will select candidates for ministries allocated to
Sunni parties, including portfolios assigned to the Al-Azm Alliance, Taqaddum
(Progress) lawmaker Ahmed Al-Masari told Shafaq News on Saturday, adding that
there are no objections to Jumaa Inad’s nomination for defense minister.

Al-Masari expected parliament
to hold a session next week to advance the completion of Prime Minister Ali
Faleh Al-Zaidi’s cabinet, as negotiations among political blocs continue.
Candidates, he said, could come from Taqaddum, Al-Azm, or outside the two
blocs, provided they secure consensus among Sunni forces.

Addressing reports of
reservations over Inad, who served as defense minister from 2020 to 2022 under
then-Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi, the lawmaker maintained that he was
unaware of any domestic or external objections to nominees for Sunni-held portfolios,
“particularly Jumaa Inad.”

Parliament approved Al-Zaidi’s
government and program on May 14, granting confidence to 14 ministers while
postponing votes on nine positions amid disagreements over their allocation. A
source informed Shafaq News this month that the process could be completed in
September.

Al-Azm’s share has also come
under discussion following the arrest of its leader, Muthanna Al-Samarrai, on
corruption allegations. A political source revealed on Wednesday that one of
the alliance’s two ministries could be reassigned, while an official from the
bloc insisted that its electoral share entitles it to both.

*The National Political
Council is a Sunni umbrella bloc formed after the 2025 parliamentary elections
to unify positions, coordinate political demands, and represent Sunni forces in
negotiations with other major blocs. It holds a total of 77 seats in parliament.