Iraqi Prime Minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi said on Wednesday he has put together a cabinet of political independents and called on parliament to hold an extraordinary session next week to grant it a vote of confidence.
Iraq is facing an extraordinary domestic crisis as nearly 500 people have been killed since Oct. 1 as protesters demand the ouster of what they see as a corrupt ruling elite and an end to foreign interference mainly by Iran and the United States.
Allawi said in a televised speech that if his government wins a confidence vote, its first act would be to investigate the killing of protesters and bring the perpetrators to justice.