BAGHDAD, June 24 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi parliament passed on Monday three more cabinet-members out of four needed to complete the 22 members in the cabinet of Prime Minister Adel Abdul Mahdi amid heated political row, the Iraqi official television reported.
The candidates of the two sensitive Ministries of Defense and Interior were among the approved candidates, in addition to the Kurdish candidate for the Justice Ministry, the state-run Iraqiya channel said.
The lawmakers voted in favor of Najah Hassan al-Shimmari, 52, a retired Major General, who served as assistant commander of the Special Forces Division, as the minister of defense, the channel said.
They also passed Yasin al-Yaseri, 61, a Lieutenant General, who currently serves as an adviser for the Interior Ministry, as the minister of interior, the channel added.
The third candidate for the Ministry of Justice passed by the lawmakers was Farouq Amin al-Shwani, 62, a veteran Kurdish official in the ministry, it said.
The lawmakers also failed to pass the female candidate Safana Hussein al-Hamdani for the minister of education, it added.
After the voting, the three candidates for the Ministries of Defense, Interior and Justice swore in after receiving the confidence of the parliament.
Abdul Mahdi is expected to send next parliament session an alternative name for the candidate of the Ministry of Education after the parliament failed to vote in Safana al-Hamdani for the portfolio.
On Oct. 24, 2018, Abdul Mahdi was sworn in as the new prime minister of Iraq and the parliament passed 14 out of 22 cabinet members due differences among the political blocs.
Later, the parliament approved more candidates, but failed to approve candidates for the remaining four portfolios of defense, interior, justice and education for lack of political consensus among the parliamentary political blocs.
