The designated Iraqi Prime Minister, Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi, announced yesterday evening that he will put his cabinet to vote on it by Parliament this week. He said in a tweet on the social networking site «Twitter»: “We are close to achieving a historic achievement through an independent ministerial group of competent people without Political interference, we will put forward the names of the squad this week, away from rumors and leaks, and we hope members of Parliament will respond and vote on them, in order to start implementing the people's demands.
In the same context, said the Iraqi parliamentarian, Abboud al-Issawi, that a meeting had been held between the deputies and the Prime Minister-designate, which led to a parliamentary political consensus, to pass the granting of confidence to the new government. The deadline for forming the new government has entered its 15th day out of 30 days according to the Iraqi constitution, and Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Tawfiq Allawi must announce the cabinet formation within the coming days.
In addition, a protester was killed near the main sit-in square in central Baghdad with a silencer pistol when unknown assailants attacked his tent, security and medical sources told AFP.
Activists have spoken of a kidnapping and assassination campaign against militants over the past four months to prevent them from demonstrating, without arresting the perpetrators. According to a security source, three activists have been kidnapped during the past two days in separate areas in Baghdad.
The United Nations has accused armed groups of being behind the campaigns of assassination, kidnapping and threat against activists, in an attempt to suppress unprecedented movements in Iraq, and the Iraqi government human rights commission last week stated that 2,700 activists have been arrested since the start of the protests, more than 300 of them are still in detention.