Sun Apr 30, 10:18 AM ET
Iraq's speaker of parliament on Sunday called for parliament to convene on May 3, but Prime Minister-designate Nuri al-Maliki is not expected to present a cabinet line-up at that sitting.
Parliament designated Maliki, a Shi'ite politician, a week ago to head Iraq's first full-term government since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Maliki has 30 days starting April 22 to present his cabinet for a vote in parliament.
Maliki, a member of the ruling Shi'ite Alliance, is in talks with other political blocs to form a government of national unity seen as the best hope to avert a sectarian civil war.
An aide to Maliki's office said Maliki was still studying candidates for each ministry, which are to be submitted by each parliamentary bloc.
Maliki has said he will choose capable and non-sectarian ministers, including for the sensitive posts of Interior, Defense and Oil, based on their qualifications and not on their sectarian and ethnic affiliation and background.
Under Shi'ite leadership for the last year, the Interior Ministry has been accused of running death squads and militias that have targeted minority Sunni Arabs. Shi'ite officials deny such charges.
A statement from the office of assembly speaker Mahmoud al- Mashhadani said that on May 3 the 275-seat parliament is expected to form a committee charged with reviewing Iraq's constitution, which was voted in a referendum last October.
Sunnis, who dominated Iraq under Saddam and before, are demanding changes to the constitution, including guarantees that Kurds and Shi'ites in the oil-rich north and south will not be granted more autonomy.
Parliament is also scheduled to choose a committee to draft the assembly's internal regulations.