"This morning, I presented a request to the presidency of the parliament from the prime minister for a session to be held on Monday to present the cabinet," Minister of State of Parliamentary Affairs Safaldin al-Safi told AFP. "If Maliki finds that the candidates for a ministry are not suitable, he will take responsibility as acting minister in that ministry until a replacement is found," added Safi, who is also interim commerce minister.
Maliki's State of Law coalition won 89 seats in Iraq's March 7 elections, two fewer than the Iraqiya bloc of ex-premier Iyad Allawi. However, neither won enough for a parliamentary majority, triggering an impasse that is only now being resolved. A power-sharing deal last month finally broke the deadlock, with Maliki being named Prime Minister-designate on November 25 and given 30 days to name his government.
Safi said the defense minister would be a member of Iraqiya while the interior minister would come from the pan-Shiite coalition of which State of Law is the biggest component.
A parliamentary source said the defense post would be filled by Falah al-Naqib, interior minister during Allawi's 2004-2005 premiership and the interior job would go to Adnan al-Assadi, now deputy at the ministry.
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