Iraq rounds out Al Zaidi’s cabinet, mulls more ministries despite ballooning payroll

Iraq finally has a full cabinet: Iraq’s parliament filled 11 vacant minister positions and approved three deputy prime ministers yesterday, rounding out Prime Minister Ali Al Zaidi’s cabinet nine days after Baghdad devalued its currency to be able to meet public payroll.

Who’s who: Nayef Al Shammari is now defense minister, while Yasser Al Maliki — the son-in-law of former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki — is taking the interior ministry. One of the new deputy prime ministers is Laith al-Khazali, a senior leader of Asaib Ahl Al Haq. The US designated the Iran-backed group a foreign terrorist organization in 2020, and Al Khazali and his brother Qais as specially designated global terrorists, and has accused it of attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq.

The political blocs are pressing for more chairs around the table, including a ministry for AI or digital investment and a split of the culture, tourism, and antiquities portfolio, former MP Amir Al Maamouri told Shafaq News. The new seats would be handed out under the quota system “to satisfy the parties,” he said.

The state is already struggling to pay its bills, and public servant salaries are a significant portion of that burden — without adding more ministries to the tab. Running the state costs about IQD 10 tn a month, Al Zaidi told parliament earlier, saying the alternatives to devaluing the IQD were paying salaries every 45 days or borrowing on top of public debt that has already passed IQD 208 tn. Every new ministry adds deputies, advisers, buildings, and guards to that bill, former Planning Minister Nouri Al Dulaimi warned. The draft 2027 budget, moves contract and daily-wage workers onto permanent payrolls and adds 100k new contract jobs, a Finance Committee member told Shafaq.