URGENT: Cutting short some cabinet ministries became necessary, Iraq’s PM says

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: Iraq ’s Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has said on Thursday that the final results of his 100-day period about the activity of his cabinet had proved that “cutting short some ministries had become a urgent necessity.”   “The potentials of the cabinet ministries have ranged between good and middle, after the end of the 100-day period,” Maliki said, adding that “a considerable number of them suffers from weakness in the cadre, thing that necessitated us to take some measures.”   Among the measures, Maliki spoke about were “cutting short some ministries and the abolishment of the ‘unnecessary’ ministries, established on the so-called ‘honoring basis,’ carrying out some changes on the level of ministers, changing the cadres, on the level of ministers and director-generals and the continuation of the observation course,” adding that “such course shall begin from the point, where the 100-day period had ended.”   Maliki had pointed out in a previous time his intention to “cut short his cabinet,” after the end of the 100-day period, in the event of the appearance of some undermining in the cabinet’s structure, saying: “I shall demand to cut short the cabinet and the merger of some ministries with other ministries,” pointing out to the “existence of some misunderstanding in the shareholding concept in his cabinet.”   SKH (IT)   630