The Kurdistan Parliament today approved the new Kurdistan Regional Government cabinet. Incoming Prime Minister Nechirvan Barzani and his ministers were sworn in to begin their two-year term.

While many of the ministers remain in their previous positions, nine new ministers were sworn into the 7th cabinet.

Announcing the agenda of the new cabinet, Prime Minister Barzani said that Kurdistan needs a collective effort to maintain progress and promote national unity, in spite of individual political and ideological differences. “We must begin a national dialogue to build a consensus on how we can improve our society,” he said.

“We also must have a united front in our negotiations with Baghdad, and at present the mechanism does not exist to create this united view. We must move ahead quickly with the formation of a High Council for Negotiations to oversee these discussions. All parties – government and opposition – must participate in this Council so that we can develop a meaningful consensus among ourselves on how to approach these difficult issues,” he added.

The new Prime Minister went on to describe plans to increase government transparency and to implement a policy to help separate the functions of political parties from the operations of the government as a whole, as well as initiatives to deliver better services to the people of Kurdistan and make better provision for the disadvantaged and poor.

The new cabinet was approved in keeping with the legal timeframe set by President Masoud Barzani’s call to form the new cabinet, on March 7. The members of the 7th Cabinet sworn into posts today are:

Prime Minister - Nechirvan Idris Barzani*

Deputy Prime Minister - Imad Ahmad Sayfour*

Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources - Serwan Baban*

Minister of Culture and Youth - Kawa Mahmoud Shakir

Minister of Education - Asmat Muhamad Khalid*

Minister of Electricity - Yasin Sheikh Abu Bakir Muhammad Mawati

Minister of Endowment & Religious Affairs - Kamil Ali Aziz

Minister of Finance & the Economy - Bayiz Saeed Mohammad Talabani

Minister of Health - Rekawt Hama Rasheed*

Minister of Higher Education & Scientific Research - Ali Saeed*

Minister of Housing and Reconstruction - Kamaran Ahmed Abdullah

Minister of Justice - Sherwan Haidary*

Minister for the Interior - Abdul Karim Sultan Sinjari

Minister of Labour and Social Affairs - Ms Asos Najib Abdullah

Minister of Martyrs and Anfal Affairs - Sabah Ahmed Mohamed (Mamosta Aram)

Minister of Municipalities and Tourism - Dilshad Shahab*

Minister of Natural Resources - Abdullah Abdulrahman Abdullah (Ashti Hawrami)

Minister of Peshmerga Affairs - Jafar Mustafa Ali

Minister of Planning - Ali Sindi

Minister of Trade and Industry - Sinan Abdulkhalq Ahmed Çelebi

Minister of Transport and Communications - Jonson Siyaoosh*

Other senior officials with ministerial rank

President, Divan of the Council of Ministers - Fawzi Franso Toma Hariri

Secretary of the Cabinet - Mohammad Qaradaghi

Head of the Department of Foreign Relations - Falah Mustafa Bakir

Chairman of the Investment Board - Herish Muharam