Iraq's Parliament Names Haider al Abadi as Prime Minister

The Iraqi parliament has named Haider al Abadi as the country's new prime minister on Monday. The lawmakers also approved nearly all the candidates proposed for the country's new government except for the posts of defense and interior ministers.

Abadi  said that he will name the candidates for the positions within a week, reports aljazeera.com.

Outgoing Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, another former prime minister, Ayad Allawi, and former parliamentary speaker Osama al-Nujeifi, were made vice presidents. However, the post of the vice president is mainly ceremonial.

While former foreign minister and Kurdish politician Hoshyar Zebari was named as one of the three deputy Prime Ministers, former prime minister Ibrahim al Jafaari was named as foreign minister.

Speaking at the parliament, Abadi pledged to support the military operations against terrorist elements and to persist in the effort till victory is accomplished.

He also vowed to solve the disagreements with the Kurdish region..

"My government is committed to solve all suspended issues with the Kurdistan Regional Government," he said , reports aljazeera.com.

However, the participation of the Kurdish bloc is on conditional basis. The bloc wants all major issue between Baghdad and Kurdistan to be solved within three months. It also wants the government to give the allocated budget to Kurdistan, within one week. The funds have been withheld for more than nine months, reports BBC.

The Iraqi politicians have been facing a great deal of pressure from United States to form a more representative government which includes Sunnis, Shias and Kurds.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the formation of the new government was without doubt a major milestone and had the potential to bring together the various communities of Iraq.

"Now is the time for Iraq's leaders to govern their nation with the same vision and sense of purpose that helped bring this new government together in the first place," Kerry said. "In that effort they should know that the United States will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Iraqis as they implement their national plan," he said, reports CNN.