Thursday, December 2nd 2010
National Coalition supports Kurds’ bid for Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A member of the National Coalition said on Wednesday that the bloc supports the Kurds’ bid to retain the foreign ministry for a second term in light of their proven track record.
Nassar al-Rubaie, told AKnews that the Kurdistan Bloc's coalition (KBC) had requested one of the three key ministries in the new government; the foreign affairs, finance or oil ministries.
Speaking of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Rubaie said: “…the Kurds have succeeded in managing it over the past years through their minister, Hoshyar Zebari,” adding that, “…everyone agreed that it would be the share of the Kurds.”
Last week the Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki asked all parliamentary blocs to nominate their candidates for the different ministries which will be allocated, in part, according to a point system based on the number of seats each bloc attained in the March 7 elections.
Mr. Maliki was officially nominated Prime Minister on November 25 by the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, thus obliging him to form a government within the constitutional 30-day time limit.
Many of the blocs have already staked claims on the key Finance and Oil Ministries, indicating that the task of forming a cabinet that will satisfy the different factions on the Iraqi political arena is going to be something of a challenge.
Speaking previously to AKnews, the KBC member Mahmoud Othman had said that his coalition would prefer the Iraqi Oil Ministry in order to resolve the outstanding problems between the Kurdistan region and Baghdad over oil contracts.
The oil contracts signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with foreign companies have long been one of the key issues of contention between Baghdad and the KRG.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry declared the Kurdistan contracts illegal, claiming that the latter did not have the right to sign them without federal approval. Kurdistan however maintains that it is constitutionally entitled to sign international oil contracts that concern its own territories.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/199277/
National Coalition supports Kurds’ bid for Ministry of Foreign Affairs
A member of the National Coalition said on Wednesday that the bloc supports the Kurds’ bid to retain the foreign ministry for a second term in light of their proven track record.
Nassar al-Rubaie, told AKnews that the Kurdistan Bloc's coalition (KBC) had requested one of the three key ministries in the new government; the foreign affairs, finance or oil ministries.
Speaking of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Rubaie said: “…the Kurds have succeeded in managing it over the past years through their minister, Hoshyar Zebari,” adding that, “…everyone agreed that it would be the share of the Kurds.”
Last week the Iraqi PM Nouri al-Maliki asked all parliamentary blocs to nominate their candidates for the different ministries which will be allocated, in part, according to a point system based on the number of seats each bloc attained in the March 7 elections.
Mr. Maliki was officially nominated Prime Minister on November 25 by the Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, thus obliging him to form a government within the constitutional 30-day time limit.
Many of the blocs have already staked claims on the key Finance and Oil Ministries, indicating that the task of forming a cabinet that will satisfy the different factions on the Iraqi political arena is going to be something of a challenge.
Speaking previously to AKnews, the KBC member Mahmoud Othman had said that his coalition would prefer the Iraqi Oil Ministry in order to resolve the outstanding problems between the Kurdistan region and Baghdad over oil contracts.
The oil contracts signed by the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) with foreign companies have long been one of the key issues of contention between Baghdad and the KRG.
The Iraqi Oil Ministry declared the Kurdistan contracts illegal, claiming that the latter did not have the right to sign them without federal approval. Kurdistan however maintains that it is constitutionally entitled to sign international oil contracts that concern its own territories.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/199277/
