After a chaotic session, Parliament has approved five of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s new Cabinet picks. Candidates were approved for the posts in the ministries of electricity, health, higher education, labor and water resources. Other nominees were rejected, and the prime minister will present fresh names on Saturday.
Several lawmakers aligned with former premier, Nouri al-Maliki, disrupted the proceedings to the point that they were barred from returning after a recess. The group had vigorously protested Speaker Salim al-Jabouri’s participation in the session and promised to seek redress in court. Mostly, these lawmakers stand to lose power if non-aligned technocrats fill the new Cabinets posts. The prime minister called on the speaker to have these lawmakers arrested.
The defiant parliament members appear to be ignoring the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who demonstrated in the streets of Baghdad against government corruption and the unwillingness of lawmakers to allow change. Angry protesters were stopped short of entering the Green Zone.
Separately, in Tuz Khormato, Police Chief Mustafa Amrili, who is a supporter of the Shi’ite militias, dismissed his Kurdish employees under threat of death. Militiamen allegedly killed three Peshmerga members. Militiamen are also accused of killing three Sunni policemen and wounding two more. Due to ongoing fighting, all figures remain unconfirmed.
At least 94 were killed and 44 were wounded:
Airstrikes on Fallujah killed eight civilians, including children, and wounded 13 more.
In Mosul, militants executed seven civilians via drowning. Three young men were executed for insulting the head of Daesh.
A bomb in Taji killed two people and wounded eight more.
A policeman was shot and wounded in Kirkuk.
Doulab was liberated. At least 23 militants were killed in the fighting.
Airstrikes on Rashidiya killed 20 militants.
Six militants were killed and six more were wounded in airstrikes against Qayara.
Strikes killed 10 militants and wounded four more in Rutba.
Four militants were killed during strikes in on Makhmour.
A mortar attack on Nasr left three militants dead.
