Iraq's new Prime Minister dismisses senior officials

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Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani sacked a number of senior officials appointed by his predecessor, a few days after a vote of confidence in his cabinet.

Al-Sudani's cabinet was approved by lawmakers on Thursday, after a year of political stalemate.

Sudani, citing the government's "interim" status, reversed many appointments made by former Prime Minister Mustafa Al-Kadhimi during the October 2021 elections during a cabinet meeting.

"According to the Supreme Court, an interim government does not have the right" to make such senior appointments, Al-Sudani said in his first press conference as Prime Minister.

He also promised to combat widespread corruption, describing it as "a tremendous threat to the Iraqi state, more dangerous than all other threats that have weighed on Iraq."

"The citizens want to feel that there is a sense of responsibility and that looted money is returned," he added.

On October 13, Iraqi President-elect Abdul Latif Rashid charged Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani with forming a new government. This came after Rashid was elected as President of the Republic of Iraq, after winning 162 votes in the second round of the elections.

Iraq held early legislative elections on October 10, 2021, after which Iraqi parties failed to reach an agreement on electing a new president of the republic and naming a new prime minister.

The Iraqi Coordination Framework's nomination of Mohammad Shia Al-Sudani was a spark that ignited tension between the framework and the Sadrist movement. The latter's supporters staged a sit-in in front of Parliament for about a month, but the Coordination Framework did not back down from its candidate and insisted on the formation of a government with full powers while Al-Sadr demanded the dissolution of Parliament and early elections.