Al-Zurfi, Iraq's prime minister-designate, during a news conference in Najaf, Iraq, February 5, 2005. /AP
Iraqi President Barham Salih on Tuesday designated Adnan al-Zurfi, ex-governor of Najaf Province, as the country's new prime minister, the official television reported.
Zurfi has been tasked with forming a government within 30 days, in an attempt to overcome months of political deadlock. He must then put his cabinet to a vote of confidence in Iraq's notoriously divided parliament.
Zurfi, a former official of the U.S.-run authorities that took over Iraq after the 2003 U.S. invasion that deposed Saddam Hussein, is head of the Nasr parliamentary grouping of former prime minister Haider al-Abadi, also a U.S. ally.
The 54-year-old lawmaker would replace outgoing prime minister Adel Abdel Mahdi, who resigned in December following popular mass rallies against a government that protesters see as corrupt, inept and beholden to powerful neighbor Iran.
Riot police set up barriers to close Tahrir Square during anti-government protests in Baghdad, Iraq, March 10, 2020. /AP
An earlier nominee failed to form a cabinet by March 2, triggering a new 15-day deadline for Saleh.
Since the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam, Iraqi cabinets have been formed through a sectarian power-sharing system, leading to widespread horsetrading among various sects and parties.
A senior government source told AFP that political factions had intensely debated names for days, seeking a "non-confrontational" figure to preserve the status quo.
The announcement came just hours after Iraq faced a new rocket attack targeting foreign troops stationed at military bases across the country. Two rockets hit the Besmaya base about 60 kilometers south of Baghdad before dawn on Tuesday, according to the Iraqi military, where the U.S.-led coalition and NATO all have forces stationed there.
(With input from agencies)