Iraq's parliament is due to vote on a new government on Tuesday, nine months after an inconclusive election left politics in limbo and delayed investments to rebuild the country after years of war.
Lawmakers are scheduled to begin voting on Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's 42-strong cabinet list -- which leaves Kurdish veteran Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari in place and includes current Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani as deputy prime minister for energy -- at 2 p.m. (1100 GMT).
Highlighting the ethnic and sectarian divides that pervade the war-ravaged country, parliament had to postpone the vote on Monday after last-minute factional disputes and political horse-trading over posts delayed the government's formation.
Maliki has yet to decide on permanent choices for some positions, including sensitive security-related ministries such as defence and interior.
The prime minister's partial list of proposed ministers, published on Monday, promoted deputy oil minister Abdul Kareem Luaibi to minister and made prominent Sunni leader Rafie al-Esawi finance minister.
"The deal the parties worked out is rather elaborate but the critical thing is that they were able to get to this point through peaceful negotiations without any return to large-scale violence," said Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center.
"That said, power-sharing deals like this one tend to be quite fragile and so the next few months will present a crucial test for the ... rival blocs."
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