Iraqi President Appoints New Prime Minister

Iraqi President Barham Salih on Tuesday appointed Adnan al-Zurfi as the prime minister-designate who will form an interim government, the official television reported.

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Salih received al-Zurfi in his office in the Presidential Palace in central Baghdad and handed him the task letter to form a new government within 30 days, the state-run Iraqiya channel said.

Al-Zurfi's nomination came one day after the deadline of 15 days set by the Iraqi constitution for political blocs to submit a candidate for the post of prime minister-designate to Iraqi president.

Al-Zurfi is an Iraqi Shiite politician, who was born in the city of Kufa in Najaf province in 1966. He joined the Dawa Islamic Party in his early life and fled the country during the Saddam Hussein regime and returned after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.

He served as the governor of Najaf province for several years after 2009, and withdrew from Dawa party to form al-Wafaa Coalition in 2013. He is now part of al-Nasr Coalition led by former prime minister Haider al-Abadi.

According to the Iraqi constitution, the prime minister-designate has 30 days to put together a cabinet and present it to the parliament for approval, as the parliament must approve the government program and each individual minister in separate absolute majority votes.