BAGHDAD – After 87 days of argument Iraq’s political stalemate was on the way to being broken yesterday as the prime minister-designate, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, finally submitted a cabinet to the country’s president for approval.

Mr. al Jaafari said all Iraq’s religious and ethnic groups would be included in the coalition government – though it is understood that the Shia Muslims will have more than half the seats.

President Talabani has already indicated that he will not exercise his veto, and the speaker of Iraq’s national assembly told the body it should expect to vote on the list of ministers today.

If approved, the list will confirm the stunning rise to power of the Shia community – the majority community in Iraq – after years of persecution by the former dictator, Saddam Hussein, and his predecessors.

Mr. al Jaafari did not provide names and portfolios, but it has been leaked that the 32-member cabinet will include 17 Shia ministers, eight Kurds, six Sunni Arabs, and one Christian.

In addition three deputy premiers are to be named – a Sunni, a Shia, and a Kurd – as a symbol of how power is being spread among the country’s main communities.

The Shia representative is expected to be Ahmad Chalabi, the former Pentagon favorite who is believed to have provided much of the information – including that on the weapons of mass destruction which later proved non-existent – upon which the American government based its argument for war.

One political faction that will not be represented is that of the interim prime minister, Ayad Allawi, a secular Shia, who won 40 seats but broke off negotiations with Mr. al Jaafari last week amid mutual recriminations.

Providing the assembly approves the cabinet as expected, a formal handover between Mr. Allawi and Mr. al Jaafari is expected in the next few days.