The urgent need for change was underlined by the suicide attack on a bus near a church in north-east Baghdad that left another 17 people wounded, just a day after twin bombers killed 40 recruits at a police commando base.
Those killed in the bus included four women and an infant, a medic at nearby Sadr City's Imam Ali hospital said, adding that most of the corpses were charred beyond recognition.
The US military also announced it had killed eight "terrorists" in multiple raids around Baghdad and detained another 41, while 10 bodies were recovered from Diyala, a flashpoint province north of Baghdad.
Another five people were killed in a series of shootings around the country, a bomb exploded near the capital's fortified Green Zone that houses the government and an interior ministry official was kidnapped, ahead of Maliki's political shakeup.
"Ten ministers are set to change," said lawmaker Abbas al-Bayati from the ruling Shia United Iraqi Alliance (UIA). There are 37 ministers in the cabinet.
Expecting the reshuffle over the next few days, Bayati said Maliki will invite all political blocs to send new names of "three candidates for each ministry", adding that the focus this time was "on efficient technocrats".
Maliki on Sunday told a closed session of parliament that he was for a "comprehensive cabinet reshuffle", virtually blaming the present ministries for the precarious security situation in war-ravaged Iraq.
"He wants to focus on security," Bayati told AFP, referring to Maliki. "He wants to boost the performance of his government as he has discovered after six months that some ministers lacked in performance." Amid the pervasive insecurity across the country, there have also been repeated complaints about government corruption, lack of official services and ministries more interested in serving their political parties than the people.
Iraq's political process has been further hit by threats from members of the once powerful Sunni Arab politicians who claim to be victims of a bitter sectarian conflict and accuse Maliki of ignoring their woes.
On Wednesday, the main Sunni bloc threatened to quit the national unity government -- cobbled together after December 2005 elections -- warning they would take up arms if rampaging Shia militias were not quickly dismantled.
But Maliki attacked the bloc's leaders, accusing them of inflaming the already volatile situation.
"The situation in Iraq requires today a calm approach, not declarations that just put oil on the fire announcing that they will take up arms -- and against who?"
Some lawmakers, however, say that the changes in the cabinet would largely be cosmetic unless a drastic policy shift was announced by the US and Iraqi authorities.
"The extent of cabinet reshuffle depends on the agreement between the political blocs," said senior Kurdish politician Mahmud Othman. "While the change will bring better efficiency in running the government, I do not think it is going to help improve the situation. The situation is very complicated. A lot of time has been lost."
Othman called for a "formula between the Americans and the Iraqis that could include gradual withdrawal of troops," a key factor for stemming unrest according to Sunni Arabs apart from the rampaging Shia militias.
US pressure on Maliki is expected to rise given recent statements by Democrats, who defeated George W. Bush's Republican party in last week's mid-term elections.
The likely new chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, Senator Carl Levin, called Sunday for US troops to begin pulling out of Iraq in the next four to six months.
"As a matter of fact, we need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to six months," he said.
The coalition casualties in Iraq have continued to mount, with four British servicemen and three US troops announced dead on Sunday.
"It is a difficult situation for Maliki to bring sweeping changes unless all political blocs help him," said Nabil Mohammed Younis, professor at Baghdad University.
"Militias are just one problem. The issue is how to control bloodshed," Younis, a Sunni, added.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006