Iraq's prime minister-designate on Tuesday proposed a 36-member Cabinet - including three deputy premiers from the country's Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish factions. Ibrahim al-Jaafari discussed his proposal Tuesday with President Jalal Talabani, said the premier's spokesman, Abdel-Razak al-Kadhi. Talabani's three-member presidential council must sign off on the list before it is submitted to the 275-member National Assembly for a vote. Talabani has already indicated he would not exercise his veto and a vote could take place as soon as Wednesday, lawmakers said.Late Tuesday, Jaafari met Abdel-Aziz al-Hakim, head of the Supreme Council for the Islamic Revolution in Iraq, a leading member of the winning United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), Kadhi said. Under Jaafari's proposal, Iraq's majority Shiites would get 17 ministries, according to Ali al-Adib and Hadi al-Ameri, two lawmakers from the UIA, which controls 148 seats in Parliament. Eight ministries would go to the alliance's Kurdish allies, six to Sunnis and one to a Christian, the lawmakers said. Fouad Massoum, a senior member of Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, confirmed most of the breakdown, but was not aware that a ministry would go to a Christian faction.
Hoping to end months of haggling, Jaafari has also decided to appoint three deputy prime ministers - one each from the country's main ethnic and religious groups - lawmakers said. According an earlier report by Al-Iraqiyya television, Roj Nouri Shaways, a Kurd, former Pentagon favorite Ahmad Chalabi, and Sunni MP Saad al-Lehebi were all named as deputy premiers. It also said Saadoun Dulaimi, a Sunni, was named as defense minister.