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BAGHDAD — Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki submitted his new Cabinet on Monday, clearing a hurdle to seating a government more than nine months after national elections.
Nearly one-third of the nominees were acting ministers, an attempt to buy time to work out disagreements over posts with the hard- line Shiite faction loyal to anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Without the Sadrists, al-Maliki would not have enough support to try to build the government.
Parliament was expected to vote on the list of 42 ministers and other top government posts as early as today, according to Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi.
