New PM chosen amid attacks
Iraq’s president yesterday named a former governor of the city of Najaf as prime minister-designate, following weeks of political infighting, as Baghdad residents rushed to stock up on supplies hours before a days-long curfew was set to take hold amid a global pandemic.
Adnan al-Zurfi was appointed PMdesignate by President Barham Saleh after tense meetings between rival political blocs that went on for weeks without reaching a consensus on a candidate to replace outgoing leader Adel Abdul-Mahdi.
Hours after the announcement, Iraq’s powerful Fatah parliamentary bloc rejected al-Zurfi’s candidacy, signalling a rocky path to the formation of a government.
The development came after an earlier prime minister-designate, Mohammed Allawi, withdrew his candidacy after political groups rejected his proposed cabinet lineup.
Meanwhile, at least three rockets struck Baghdad’s fortified Green Zone near the American Embassy yesterday, a day after an attack on a training base south of Baghdad, Iraqi security officials said. It was the fourth such attack in the span of a week.
Fatah, headed by Hadi al-Ameri, won the second-highest number of seats in parliament in a May 2018 election. It accused Saleh of ‘‘disregarding’’ the constitution and naming alZurfi in the absence of political consensus.
Al-Zurfi, 54, was appointed by Iraq’s United States administrator Paul Bremer as governor of Najaf in 2004, and later served in the same post for two terms between 2009 and 2015.
According to Iraq’s constitution, alZurfi has 30 days to propose a lineup of ministers and form a new government.
Early elections have been a key demand of anti-government protesters camped out in the capital’s Tahrir
Square since last October, when thousands took to the streets to decry government corruption, poor services and unemployment. Abdul-Mahdi resigned under pressure from the demonstrations.
Subsequently, Allawi’s efforts to form a government were plagued with delays and dysfunction as legislators failed on two occasions to approve his cabinet of independents, which alienated Iraqi Kurdish and Sunni lawmakers.
Al-Zurfi’s naming came hours before a curfew imposed because of the coronavirus pandemic was to take effect in Baghdad as Iraq struggles to contain the spread of the virus.
Residents rushed to stock up on last-minute supplies ahead of the start of the curfew. Many were concerned that it could be extended beyond the seven days announced by the government.
The effective lockdown coincides with the annual Shiite Muslim commemoration of the death of revered Imam Mousa al-Kazim. Thousands of Iraqis typically make the journey on foot to the shrine of the imam in the Khadimiya area outside Baghdad. Pilgrims in the past few days have been stopped from carrying out the trek by security forces.
The fate of the six-month protest movement has also come into question amid strict protocols prohibiting large public gatherings.
Meanwhile, at least three rockets struck the Green Zone, the seat of Iraq’s government and home to several foreign embassies, Iraqi security officials said. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The previous evening, rockets hit the Basmaya base near the Iraqi capital, the Iraqi army said.
Last Thursday, a barrage of over two dozen rockets struck Camp Taji, north of Baghdad, killing three coalition servicemen. It was followed by another attack on Sunday at the same site, which wounded five soldiers. –AP