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Iraq's finance minister likely to be voted out

BAGHDAD, Aug 27 (KUNA) -- Two days after the Iraqi Council of Representatives voted to oust defense minister Khaled Al-Obaidi, the Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Hoshyar Zebari is facing a similar scenario.
The lawmakers voted Saturday that they are not convinced of the answers made by Zebari at the Thursday grilling, which paves the way for a no-confidence motion similar to the one that led to the ouster of Al-Obaidi over claims of fraud.
Zebari, who served as foreign minister between 2003 and 2014, is to face a no-confidence motion one week later according to the parliamentary rules.
As Sunni MPs voted to withdraw confidence from the Sunni defense minister on Thursday, Kurdish lawmakers voted today against the Kurdish Zebari, which reflects a lawful stance by the MPs away from sectarian grounds.
Soon after 50 MPs suggested a vote against Zebari's responses at the grilling, a fistfight broke out among MPs from Zebari's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the supporters of the griller MP Haitham Al-Jabouri from the reform front.
The KDP lawmakers quit the session, thus forcing the Parliament Speaker Salim Al-Jabouri to call off the session for half an hour.
However, the Kurdish lawmakers from the KDP and the Goran movement returned later on and voted against Zebari.
Commenting on today's heated debate, Mahmoud Redha, an MP from Goran list, said the fate of cabinet members is no longer contingent on their sectarian or nationalist affiliations or dictations from their respective party leaders.
"The fate of a minister depends rather on their political integrity and efficiency," Redha said in a statement to KUNA.
He affirmed that Sunni MPs voted to oust Al-Obaidi on Thursday as Kurdish MPs voted today against Zebari's answers.
Redha refuted speculations that the Arab component of the legislature are antagonizing the Kurdish one, saying that such rumors are groundless and "a ploy by some politicians to shuffle the cards." Meanwhile, Abdulmohsen Al-Saadoun, a KDP parliamentarian, said his party will appeal against the constitutionality of today's session based on the tense atmospheres that led to a fistfight.
"The Parliament Speaker should not proceed in the voting after he saw a female MP (Ashwaq Al-Jaf) being beaten by another female member (Awatef Ni'mah)," he argued.
On his part, Abdulrahman Alluwaizi, an MP from the reform front of the griller MP, regretted that 59 MPs signed a request to strip Zebari of confidence shorty after today's vote against his answers.
He also regretted the ouster of the defense minister amid the current delicate security and economic conditions, saying: "It's not proper to weaken the government through such motions." The question remains: what kind of response the government could venture at if it loses another minister when the parliament reconvenes early next week? (end) ahh.gb