BAGHDAD: The nominee for the post of oil minister in Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi’s proposed cabinet, Nizar Saleem Numan, who is a Kurd, withdrew his candidacy on Friday apparently because his name had not been formally put forward by the main Kurdish groups.
“Because there is no political agreement over the form of the future government, I withdraw my candidacy for the ministry of oil position,” he told a news conference in Dohuk.
Numan, a 65-year-old petroleum geologist, is part of the lineup of technocrats presented on Thursday by Al Abadi who wants the new government to focus on fighting rampant graft in the Opec nation. Parliament must vote on the reshuffle in the next 10 days.
Though Numan did not elaborate on his decision to pull out, outgoing finance minister Hoshiyar Zebari, who is also a Kurd, said Al Abadi’s lineup lacked the formal approval of the Kurdish groups.
“The Kurdish alliance has one position: we are for the respect of the Constitution and we won’t allow the Kurds’ representatives be imposed on us,” Zebari told Reuters in a telephone interview.
