2026-05-17T15:35:37+00:00
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Shafaq News-
Baghdad
Iraq’s
constitution reserves a quarter of parliamentary seats for women, but when it
comes to cabinet, there is no such guarantee, and in the country’s newly formed
government, the bargaining produced one.
Sarwa Abulwahid,
assigned the Environment portfolio, is the sole woman in the cabinet of Prime
Minister Ali al-Zaidi, down from three female ministers in the previous
administration. The reduction reflects a structural gap in Iraqi law that has
shaped every government formed since the US-led invasion in 2003.
Iraq’s
constitution enshrines principles of equality, non-discrimination, and equal
opportunity, but contains no binding provision requiring female representation
at the ministerial level. Legal expert Mohammed Juma told Shafaq News that
while those constitutional principles “require that female representation
be taken into account when forming governments,” the absence of an
enforceable quota leaves the matter entirely subject to political negotiation
and party selection.
The result,
across more than two decades of post-2003 governance, has been inconsistency.
Women have held portfolios spanning health, environment, human rights, finance,
communications, and migration, but
always at the discretion of coalition arithmetic, never by legal requirement.
The previous
administration of Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, formed in October 2022, recorded the
highest female ministerial presence since 2003, with three women in
cabinet-level roles: Taif Sami Mohammed as Finance Minister, Hiyam Aboud
al-Yasiri as Communications Minister, and Evan Faeq Gabro as Minister of
Migration and Displacement. The al-Zaidi government represents a sharp
reversal.
Read more: Quotas without a cause: Iraqi Women counted, rights discounted
Nesreen Barwari
became the first woman to hold a ministerial post after 2003, serving as
Minister of Municipalities and Public Works from 2003 to 2006. Others followed
across successive administrations —in human rights, labor, education, science,
and women’s affairs— but representation never stabilized into expectation.
Member of
Parliament Inaam Alaa Al-Din, of the State of Law Coalition, told Shafaq News
that female representation in government had not reached the required level,
particularly for women from central and southern Iraq. She stopped short of
calling the current outcome discriminatory. “It is not yet possible to speak
of clear discrimination against women,” she said, while arguing that
genuine political participation requires “conditions that allow genuine
competition and equal access to senior offices.”
The current
count may not be final as Iraq’s Council of Representatives this week approved
14 ministerial nominees by absolute majority but rejected candidates for nine
portfolios —including Planning, Culture, Higher Education, and Interior. Those
positions remain vacant, and appointments to fill them could yet include additional
women.
The broader
picture, however, points to a ceiling that quotas have not reached. Iraq’s
parliament, under its constitutional 25% threshold, currently seats 82 women
among its 329 members. The cabinet, formed through negotiation among political
blocs, has produced one.
Read more: What does Iraq’s new government promise? A guide to Ali Al-Zaidi’s ministerial program
