Parliament speaker says govt. won Iraqis’ support

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Parliament’s Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi said on Tuesday that the government presented by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won Iraqis support. “The lawmakers approved the new Iraqi government presented by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki,” al-Nujaifi said in the session aired by al-Iraqiya satellite channel. Lawmakers began their session on Tuesday afternoon with speeches ahead of a vote on Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s 42-strong cabinet list which leaves Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari in place and includes current Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahrestani as deputy prime minister for energy. Before the voting started, former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, who failed to gain enough support for a parliamentary majority after his cross-sectarian Iraqiya bloc won the most seats, told lawmakers his Sunni-backed coalition would participate fully in the government. The prime minister‘s partial list of proposed ministers, published on Monday, promoted deputy oil minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi to minister and made prominent Sunni leader Rafie al-Issawi finance minister. SH (S) /SR 59