“Based on the fourth point of Article 76 of the Constitution and relying on the 12th presidential decree issued in April 2020 charging us with forming the Council of Ministers, we send you the ministerial program for the purpose of presenting it to the ladies and gentlemen of the Council of Representatives,” the document read, adding that the nominees would be submitted by the constitutional deadline.

As part of the program, al-Kadhimi promised to hold early elections, fight the coronavirus outbreak, restrict the use of arms to the government's security forces, draft an extraordinary budget to address the global drop in oil prices, open a national dialogue to listen to the demands of protesters, protect Iraqi sovereignty, fight corruption, and promote the values of respect and citizenship, NRT reported.

Al-Kadhimi is the third Prime Minister-designate candidate to be nominated since Adil Abdul Mahdi submitted his resignation letter to the Council of Representatives and it was accepted on December 1, 2019.

Besides al-Kadhimi, Iraqi President Barham Salih has nominated Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi and Adnan al-Zurfi to form a new government, but each failed to attract enough support from the parties to survive a vote of confidence in parliament.

Under the timeline set out by the constitution, al-Kadhimi had less than a week to complete the task.

Reporter’s code: 50101