TEHRAN– The Iraqi parliament has given a vote of confidence to Mustafa al-Kazemi's cabinet as he faces difficult missions, such as implementing the resolution of expelling US troops from Iraqi territory.

Iraqi MPs gave a vote of confidence to the cabinet of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kazemi. Accordingly, a total of 15 nominees received approval as follows:

Nabil Kazem Abdel-Saheb as Minister of Higher Education, Juma And as Ministry of Defense, Othman Al-Ghanimi as the Minister of Interior, Ali Abdul Amir Allawi for the Ministry of Finance, Khaled Najm for Planning and budget, Naznin Muhammad for Construction, Housing, and Municipalities, Hassan Muhammad Abbas as the Minister of Health, Majid Mahdi as the Minister of Energy, Nasser Hussein as the  Minister of Transport, Adnan Darajal as the Minister of Sports and Youth, Manhal Aziz as the  Minister of Industry and Minerals, Arkan Shihab as the Minister of Communications, Adel Hashash as the Minister of Labor and Social Affairs, Mahdi Rashid as the minister of Water Resources and Ali Hamid Mukhlif as the Minister of Education.

Al-Kazemi described his plans during a vote of confidence session in the Iraqi parliament, saying,” One of the missions of my government is to make the administration the only organ armed with weapons, to hold an early election, and to prevent the country from becoming an arena for the aggression of others. We will not allow Iraqi territory to be a base for launching attacks. Adopting appropriate measures to counter the spread of coronavirus is another priority of the future Iraqi government.”

“I guarantee freedom of expression and support for peaceful demonstrations, and I will work to resolve all the economic, social, and security problems that people face.” He added. Al-Halbousi also said that the new Iraqi government must be able to overcome the obstacles and challenges ahead.

The fact is that selecting Mustafa al-Kazemi as the new Prime Minister of Iraq indicates the unity of the Shiite groups in the country because most of them fully support his cabinet. Undoubtedly, without the full support of Shiite parties, al-Kazemi's cabinet would not have won the vote of confidence of the Iraqi parliament. Accordingly, the Iraqi parliament's approval of Mustafa al-Kazemi can be seen as a manifestation of the unity of Shiite groups in Iraq.

This comes as some foreign media outlets were striving to show split and disagreement among Shiite groups before the session. Therefore, the vote of confidence of the Iraqi parliament to Mustafa al-Kazemi showed the peak of unity among Shiites in the country.

On the other hand, the parliament's vote of confidence prevented Iraq from confronting the deadly crisis of the “political vacuum” that could have grave consequences for the country. The creation of power and political vacuum in Iraq was one of the most important goals of foreign countries, especially the US that was not achieved after the parliament's vote of confidence to al-Kazemi's cabinet.

Obviously, if there was a power vacuum and, consequently, a political vacuum in Iraq, foreign interference by the US and their Western and Arab allies in this country would increase even more. Thus, with the emergence of a cabinet based on democracy and parliamentary votes, Iraq has begun to move towards stability and peace.

In addition to what has been said, Iraq is currently facing a number of crises such as economic difficulties and the outbreak of COVID-19, the solution of which required choosing a new prime minister as soon as possible, which was ultimately carried out by the Iraqi parliament. Therefore, it can be said that the vote of confidence of the Iraqi parliament to Al-Kazemi's cabinet is a prelude to resolving the crises the country is currently undergoing.

It should not be overlooked that as the Prime Minister of Iraq, Mustafa al-Kazemi has complex and challenging missions ahead, one of which is expelling US terrorist forces from the country. He is well aware that as the new prime minister, he must implement the Iraqi parliament’s resolution in this regard.

The new Iraqi prime minister also knows that one of the main reasons for the Shiite group’s approval of his cabinet is his commitment to expelling US troops from Iraq. Therefore, Shiite political parties expect al-Kazemi to implement the parliamentary resolution regarding the expulsion of American forces from Iraqi territory.

Al-Kazemi's other difficult mission is to get prepared for an early election in Iraq, which will take place within the next two years at most. Of course, al-Kazemi himself has stated that one of his top priorities as prime minister is to pave the way for an early election. According to what has been said, he has difficult missions ahead, but he also has the support of political parties in the country.

Reporting by Ramin Hosseinabadian