Iraq’s parliament approved Kirkuk Governor and Iraqi Turkmen Front (ITF) leader Mohammed Seman Agha as a state minister in a vote on vacant posts in Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government. The session, chaired by Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi, was attended by 261 lawmakers.
It is the first time a candidate from the Iraqi Turkmen Front has been appointed a state minister. “Congratulations to Iraq and our Turkmen nation. God willing, we will fulfill our duty properly,” Seman Agha said after the vote.
Türkiye hails “historic development”
Prof. Kürşad Zorlu, head of the AK Party’s department for relations with Turkic states, called the appointment “another historic development” for Türkiye-Iraq relations, adding that the remainder of the Kirkuk governorship term will also be completed by a Turkmen.
Seman Agha, who became Kirkuk governor in April, is expected to resign from the post, with the Iraqi Turkmen Front set to nominate candidates for his successor under a power-sharing arrangement among Kirkuk’s political groups.
In the same session, parliament approved Mohammed Tamim, Laith al-Khazali and Mohsen al-Mandalawi as deputy prime ministers, Naif al-Shammari as defense minister and Yasser al-Maliki as interior minister. With 11 more ministers approved, the number of ministers who have won a confidence vote rose from 14 to 25, largely completing the cabinet about five months after the government was formed; no candidate was put forward for the Ministry of Migration and Displaced. Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi said the regional war continued to put extraordinary pressure on Iraq’s economy and that the government would move quickly to implement its program.
