Iraqiya to get defense portfolio, INA interior, says MP

BAGHDAD / IraqiNews.com: The defense portfolio will be occupied by an independent figure from al-Iraqiya while the interior ministry would go to the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a lawmaker from the former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s bloc said on Sunday. “This has to do with the distribution of ministerial portfolios and there are no differences over it,” Jamal al-Bateekh told IraqiNews.com news agency. “The political blocs are almost finished getting ministerial posts that each bloc now knows its ministries,” Bateekh added, noting that (Iraqi Prime Minister-Designate) Nouri al-Maliki has made it clear that he would be able to form a new government within two weeks. According to the Iraqi constitution, a prime minister-designate has to offer the names of members of his new cabinet to parliament within a period of one month after he was officially assigned by the president to form a government. Regarding the blocs’ meetings today (Dec. 5), Bateekh replied that there will be meetings among the parliamentary blocs to discuss issues pertaining to census and parliamentary committees. Al-Iraqiya has obtained the chairmanship of seven parliamentary committees, including the national reconciliation, the justice & accountability and the legal committee. The Iraqi parliament, on November 11, has named al-Iraqiya candidate Osama al-Nujeifi as speaker, Sadrist Movement member Qusai al-Suhail as first deputy speaker and Kurdistan Alliance bloc member Aref Tayfour as second deputy speaker. During the same session, Iraqi President Jalal Talabani was re-elected for a second term and Talabani, in his turn, assigned incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form a new government. AmR (S)/SR 1