BAGHDAD —
Iraq’s newly-elected President Abdul Latif Rashid
pledged Monday on taking office to throw his weight behind efforts to rapidly
form a strong new government.
اضافة اعلان
“The Iraqi people expect a new government to be
formed rapidly, and that it be efficient and united,” Rashid said on his
inauguration at the presidential palace in Baghdad.
Rashid, 78, elected last Thursday to the largely
ceremonial post reserved for Iraq’s Kurdish minority, swiftly named
Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani as prime minister-designate.
Sudani’s task now is to form a new government that
would end a year of political gridlock in the war-scarred nation since general
elections were held in October 2021.
But the movement of firebrand cleric Moqtada
Al-Sadr, Sudani’s rival in Iraq’s majority
Shiite camp, Saturday announced its
refusal to join a Sudani-led government, igniting fears of renewed delays that
are common in Iraq’s multi-confessional politics.
Under the Iraqi constitution, the prime
minister-designate has 30 days to form a government, a deadline that has often
been missed.
“I will do
everything I can to bring political forces closer and sponsor a dialogue,”
Rashid said, also vowing to work toward “solid and balanced relations with
neighboring countries and the international community”.
The stakes are high for the next cabinet, with a
colossal $87 billion in revenues from oil exports locked up in the central
bank’s coffers.
The money can help rebuild infrastructure but it can
only be spent after lawmakers approve a state budget presented by the new
government.
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