BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's prime minister-designate is making good on a campaign promise to bring new faces into the government.
To form his Cabinet, Adel Abdul-Mahdi opened an online portal for anyone to apply to run Iraq's 22 ministries, posts that have come to be associated with patronage and graft.
Within days, his office received more than 15,000 applications, according to local media, and offered interviews to 601 candidates.
Still, many here are skeptical that Abdul-Mahdi can change how business is done. Many political parties have their own militias and threaten to disrupt Iraq's fragile stability if they do not get the ministries they desire.
Others are asking whether it is wise to appoint political neophytes to the highest positions of government. By law, Abdul-Mahdi has until Nov. 2 to appoint his ministers.
