BAGHDAD — A Cabinet shuffle that Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is expected to make will be limited to the substitution of ministers with representatives from their own parliamentary bloc or other blocs having a higher number of seats. That is, it will not take into account demands by protesters geared toward reducing government waste, inefficiency and corruption and forming a technocratic Cabinet.

Abadi had announced a package of reforms in August, including dismissals of the prime minister’s deputies and vice presidents as well as 140 senior government officials and the elimination and merger of 10 ministries. In early 2016, Iraqi media had reported an imminent reduction in the number of Cabinet seats and high-profile Cabinet dismissals, but on Jan. 25, Abadi confirmed that a shuffle would be limited to ministerial changes and exclude the elimination or merger of ministries. Abadi's announcement angered the Iraqi street, particularly the Popular Movement, which had hoped that protests ongoing since last August — the most recent of which was held Jan. 29 in Baghdad — would result in holding corrupt officials accountable, abolishing unnecessary positions and forming a Cabinet of competent ministers without regard to sectarian quotas. 

Mohammed al-Sayhoud, a Shiite parliamentarian for the State of Law Coalition, with which Abadi is affiliated, said of government reform in general, “It is not only about the abolition of posts and merger of ministries, but also the shift of some officials in a way that goes in line with the attempts to improve government performance and fight corrupt officials.” He further explained to Al-Monitor, “There is a need to replace some ministers and merge ministries, such as merging the oil and electricity ministries in order to end the problems between them, as each has been pointing at the other for years, and to resolve the chronically poor electrical service.”

Sayhoud also asserted, “The abolition of the Environment Ministry by merging it into the Health Ministry was a major mistake. The same applies to the abolition of the Tourism Ministry, which is one of the most important departments, as it provides huge funds to the state budget. Contrary to what happened, we had wished it would be developed and taken care of.”