Iraqi government vote delay

The Iraqi parliament opened its session on Monday to vote on the government line-up and program which was presented by prime minister-designate Haider al-Abadi (pictured).

Speaker Salim al-Jabouri announced that 178 of the parliament's 328 deputies were present at the vote - therefore meeting the constitutional attendance quota to hold the session.

It remained unclear, however, whether the vote for what aims to be an inclusive government to aid Iraq's fight against jihadist militants would actually take place. Despite hours of discussions, the session appeared to have stalled, with several reports quoting Kurdish representatives as saying that their faction remains undecided whether to support the government.

Territorial dispute?

The Kurdish news site Rudaw reported that the obstacle to talks on the new government line-up was related to ethnically mixed territories claimed by both Baghdad and the Kurds.

In a speech to parliament outlining his proposed government program, Abadi said, "My government is committed to solve all suspended issues with the Kurdistan Regional Government".

Pan-Arab newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, however, quoted a spokesman for Kurdish negotiators as saying that Abadi had refused to restore central government funding to the Kurdistan region.

The Kurds' funding was cut earlier this year amid disputes over control of oil resources in the autonomous region, which is now in the grasp of an economic crisis.

At Monday's session, an MP from the Badr bloc also shouted that it was withdrawing because it had not received its requested security posts.

ksb/tj (dpa, AFP)