Jamil Al Midfai

Jamil Al-Midfai ((1958 – 1890)Arabic: ;جميل المدفعي ) was an Iraqi politician. He served as the country's prime minister on five separate occasions between 1933 and 1953.

Biography

Al-Midfai was born in the town of Mosul, he served in the Ottoman army during World War I, but deserted in 1916 to take part in the nationalist Arab Revolt after being captured by the Russians and recruited by the British.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref> After the war, he was an aide to the Emir Faisal during his brief reign in Syria. He returned to Iraq in 1920 and Iraqi troops during the Iraqi Revolt seeking independence of the British. He was forced into exile in Transjordan because of his anti-British nationalist activities. Upon his return in 1923, he served in various senior provincial capacities and finally joined the cabinet in 1930.<ref name=":0" />

He was elected as the president of the Chamber of Deputies from December 1930 to November 1931, and from November 1931 to November 1933.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was appointed prime minister in November 1933, but he resigned soon after in February 1934 following internal government disputes in his cabinet, only to be back as prime minister in less than 10 days with a new cabinet, but that too would not last and he resigned again in August of the same year.<ref name=":0" />

As a seasoned politician and two-time prime minister, al-Midfai was asked to form a new government in August 1937, following the assassination of General Bakr Sidqi, who had ruled the country as a military dictator for almost a year. A staunch monarchist, al-Midfai was again forced into exile to Transjordan following the short-lived pro-Axis coup by Rashid Ali al-Kaylani in 1941.

Upon his return to Iraq, he served in various senior capacities including President of the Senate of Iraq in the 1950s,<ref name="auto">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and briefly as prime minister after the suspension of political activities during the 1952 Iraqi Intifada. He died on 26 October 1958 suffering from lung cancer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Fourth Ministry

When the Crown Prince 'Abd al-Ilah came back to Baghdad in 1 June 1941, He summoned al-Midfai to Him and after careful consultations, the opinion settled on al-Midfai to form a new government, so the Prince sent Him the following letter: Template:BlockquoteThe circumstances in which al-Madfai was tasked with forming his fifth cabinet were strict and required the appointment of ministers and determining their responsibilities so quickly that he could not think about the extent of the cooperation that would take place between him and his associates in the management of state affairs in these circumstances. And accordingly, the royal will was issued on the second day of June 1941 to appoint:<ref name="archived copy in Arabic">History of the ministries of Iraq, Part 6 page 6 - 'Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani, archived copy in Arabic</ref>

1. Jamil Al-Midfai: the Prime Minister
2. Ali Jawdat al-Aiyubi: Minister of Foreign Affairs
3. Mustafa Mahmud al-Umari: Minister of Interior
4. Nadhif Al-Shawi: Minister of Defense
5. Ibrahim Kemal: Minister of Finance and Minister of Justice
6. Jalal Baban: Minister of Works and Communications
7. Nasrat al-Farisi: Minister of economy
8. Mohammed Ridha Al-Shabibi: Minister of Knowledge.

External links

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