ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani said on Sunday that his cabinet during its two years in power has prioritized providing services, economic reforms, combating corruption, and addressing unemployment and poverty.
“Our government has based its work on a realistic assessment of the key demands and needs governing the relationship between citizens and their government,” said Sudani in a televised speech.
Sudani was designated as Iraq’s prime minister in October 2022 after more than a year of political bickering in the parliament.
The country is set to hold new parliamentary elections in late 2025.
Social protection programs, schools, and jobs
Sudani noted that the efforts of the government have resulted in around 961,000 new households being eligible for the Social Safety Net - a program of the labor and social affairs ministry that provides cash assistance to families with specific needs including people with disabilities, orphans, widows, and households with limited income.
Additionally, more than 7.5 million food baskets have been distributed on a monthly basis as part of the ration card - a system through which Iraqi families receive monthly food rations.
“We launched a campaign to provide new school buildings while also renovating and maintaining thousands of existing schools,” said Sudani, also noting that more than two million individuals have received student grants.
Around one million new job positions have also been announced during the current cabinet’s tenure, and more than 372,000 caregivers for people with disabilities have received salaries, according to the Iraqi premier.
“We supported the private sector by launching projects under the ‘Iraq Development Fund,’ which will generate thousands of job opportunities, with tangible results already emerging,” he added.
Energy and environment
The prime minister also touched upon achievements in the energy sector: local power production reaching 27,000 megawatts for the first time, the utilization of 67 percent of associated gas, and becoming diesel fuel self-sufficient.
“Gasoline production increased to 28 million liters per day, and imports have decreased to their lowest levels, with plans to stop imports entirely by early 2025,” said Sudani.
Sudani has repeatedly described improving the energy sector as a priority of his cabinet, stating that Baghdad seeks to achieve self-sufficiency in gas and to end its importation by 2028.
“We have begun utilizing associated gas, reaching 67 percent usage, up from previous levels where it was being flared, wasting billions of dinars,” he added.
Iraq is one of the world’s largest gas flarers, primarily burning off excess gas at oil wells. The practice is a major contributor to greenhouse gasses, causing severe environmental damage and leading to climate change. It also poses serious health risks to people living close to flaring sites - from Basra to the Kurdistan Region - where refugees in camps are particularly vulnerable.
Both the Iraq and Kurdistan Region’s governments have said they want to end the practice.
The coalition’s future in Iraq
Iraq’s enhanced foreign relations, the capability of its security forces, and the discussions on winding down the mission of the US-led coalition against the Islamic State (ISIS) in the country were also highlighted by Sudani.
“We made significant progress in resolving the issue of the international coalition’s presence in Iraq and ending the UNAMI [UN Assistance Mission for Iraq] mission, demonstrating the government’s belief in the capabilities of our security forces, which defeated ISIS remnants.”
The United Nations Security Council in May unanimously voted to renew UNAMI’s mandate through December 2025, as requested by Iraq. This will be the final extension of the more than two-decade long mission.
The Iraqi government has expressed anger over US retaliatory strikes on pro-Iran, Iraqi paramilitary groups. The US strikes have been in response to hundreds of rocket strikes and drone attacks since October on US installations and troops in Iraq, Syria, and Jordan.
In January, Sudani presided over the first meeting of the US-Iraq Higher Military Commission (HMC) to discuss the future of the coalition’s mission in Iraq.
While Baghdad has maintained that the commission aims to conclude the presence of the coalition forces in the country, Washington has described the step only as a “transition.”
Sabhan Mullah Jiad, Sudani’s political advisor, told Rudaw on Sunday that Baghdad and the coalition have reached an agreement to withdraw the foreign troops from Iraq by the end of 2025.
Iraqi speaker of parliament
During his speech on Sunday, Sudani also emphasized the need for electing a new speaker of parliament to enable the government to proceed with its agenda, noting that they maintain an “impartial stance” with all the political parties on this matter.
“We stress the need to resolve the selection of a parliamentary speaker, enabling us to move forward with the proposed ministerial reshuffle, which is based on evaluating ministers' performance to improve governmental effectiveness.”
The Iraqi parliament has been without a speaker since November, after the Federal Supreme Court ruled to revoke Mohammed al-Halbousi’s parliamentary membership and end his tenure as speaker. The legislature has unsuccessfully attempted to vote on a new speaker on several occasions.
