A month after the Americans left, al-Zaidi’s cabinet is full and the PMF bill is not law

Iraq’s parliament voted late on Thursday 15 October to complete Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi’s government, approving 11 ministers and three deputy prime ministers, according to The Arab Weekly, with Nayef al-Shammari at defence and Yasser al-Maliki at interior. The National, reporting the same vote, identified the interior minister as the son-in-law of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki and noted that one approved deputy prime minister is under US sanctions. Al Jazeera described the appointments as finalised five months after the government took office. The counts do not quite agree: the Eye on Kurdistan newsletter recorded ten ministers, one minister of state and three deputy PMs — reconcilable with The Arab Weekly — but The New Arab, reporting two days before the vote, said parties had agreed on nine ministers and four deputy prime ministers. Salah al-Kubaisi of the Sunni Sovereignty Alliance confirmed to that outlet that parliament would convene Thursday to complete the cabinet. Between Tuesday and Thursday, a deputy premiership disappeared from the package.

The security file is less settled. The National reported on 30 September that the government approved the Popular Mobilisation Forces law and referred it to parliament as US forces concluded their mission, with Washington arguing the bill undermines Iraqi sovereignty and entrenches Iranian influence. A NESA Center paper from November 2025 describes a bill granting the PMF greater autonomy as a military and security institution, enhanced financial and professional privileges for members, and an expanded organisational structure. The withdrawal itself ended on 30 September with the departure of forces from the Kurdistan Region; al-Zaidi had said on 12 August, after meeting CENTCOM commander Gen. Brad Cooper, that “September 30 will be the fixed and final date for ending the military mission of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS.” What parliament has done with the PMF bill since could not be established for this edition.

Assessment: The vanished deputy premiership is the tell. A cabinet completed five months late is not a consensus government but a settlement of accounts, and the slot that went missing between the pre-deal package and the floor vote is where the bargaining actually happened — worth tracing before the 2027 budget fight, when the same blocs will be arguing over Erbil’s share and the deduction formula. Note also what the US Embassy’s 23 October travel advisory update did not say: it attributed increased armed-attack risk to Houthi activity, not to Iraqi Shia militias. That silence, one month after the drawdown and with the PMF bill pending, is either an honest threat assessment or a diplomatic courtesy. Both readings are available; neither is yet evidenced.