Iraq parliament approves new government after year of deadlock

Iraqi lawmakers approved a new government on Thursday, a key step forward after bitter rivalry between pro-Iran factions and supporters of Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, which led to deadly violence following contested elections.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani's 21-member cabinet is expected to face myriad challenges.

The oil-rich but war-ravaged country is plagued by endemic corruption, rampant unemployment and decaying infrastructure.

"Our ministerial team will shoulder the responsibility at this critical period, in which the world is witnessing tremendous political and economic changes and conflicts," Sudani's office said in a statement after the vote.

Those changes will "add new challenges to our country, which is already suffering from accumulated crises, that have had economic, social, humanitarian and environmental impacts on our citizens", it added.

It said that Sudani's government obtained the confidence of parliament, but did not gave a breakdown of the vote which took place by a show of hands.

It added, however, that 253 MPs out of parliament's 329 members were present at the session.

Sudani, 52, was chosen to form the new government on October 13 following months of infighting between pro-Iran and pro-Sadr Shia factions that plunged the country into political deadlock.

Elections 'within a year'

The movement of Moqtada Sadr refused to join the government because Sudani is seen as close to pro-Iran factions.

The new prime minister had the backing of the Coalition for the Administration of the State, which includes the Coordination Framework, an alliance of powerful pro-Iran Shia factions that hold 138 out of 329 seats in parliament.

Other members include a Sunni grouping led by parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbussi, and two key Kurdish parties.

Of the 21 ministries nominated, 12 posts go to Shia supported by the Coordination Framework, six to Sunni leaders, two to Kurds and one to a Christian woman - one of three females in the new government.

Some analysts say a new government does not mean the end of the power struggle between the Sadr and Coordination Framework camp that spilled into deadly clashes in August.

Ihsan al-Shammari, a political scientist at the University of Baghdad, said in order to avoid fresh unrest the new cabinet and the Coordination Framework should deliver reforms as demanded by Sadr.

Sudani has pledged to hold early elections "within a year" as requested by Sadr, a grey-bearded preacher who once led a militia against American and Iraqi government forces.

Endemic corruption