Iraqi parliament approves partial cabinet reshuffle

 Iraq's parliament approved five cabinet members as part of a reshuffle presented by Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who is facing pressure to finalize the stalled reforms, official television reported Tuesday.

Legislators voted in the ministers of Health, Water Resources, Labor and Social Affairs, Electricity and Higher Education, after voting on dismissing their former ministers, the state-run Iraqiya channel said.

The parliament failed to vote on the dismissal of other cabinet members due to a disagreement between legislators, according to the channel.

The session, which was attended by 180 legislators from the 328-seat parliament, was then adjourned by Parliament Speaker Salim al-Jubouri to Thursday.

Voting on the new cabinet reshuffle came following hours of deliberation, as the parliament first convened at 1:00 pm.

However, the session soon became chaotic once Abadi entered the hall, as about 30 dissenting legislators kept shouting "illegal" referring to Parliament Speaker Salim Al-Jubouri whom they dismissed earlier during an emergency session.

The chaos forced Abadi to withdraw from the session hall after several legislators threw water bottles towards his table.

However, Parliament Speaker Jubouri remained in the hall and continued discussions with the dissenting legislators in order to convince them to join the session.

The disorder led parliament security personnel to intensify security measures, ordering journalists and photographers to vacate the parliament building, forcing the Iraqiya channel reporters to depend on information leaked from some officials and legislators inside the parliament.

A few dissenting legislators ended their protest and joined the parliament which reconvened in another parliament building hall.

Subsequently, Abadi presented his cabinet candidates after voting on dismissing the previous ministers, according to information leaked to the Iraqiya channel.

Iraqiya Television Channel first quoted sources inside the session as saying that six cabinet members were dismissed and replaced.

However, it reported later on that only five cabinet members were included in the reshuffle.

Parliament met whilst thousands of demonstrators rallied at Tahrir Square and beside the entrance of Baghdad's Green Zone, which houses Iraq's government offices and some foreign embassies.

The demonstrators, many of whom are loyal to the prominent Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, held Iraqi flags and chanted, "No to corruption," "We are staying. We're not leaving until all reforms are met."

Source: XINHUA