CF narrows Iraqi PM list to two candidates
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Iraq’s race for the premiership has narrowed to two main contenders, a member of the Reconstruction and Development (Al-Ima’ar wal Tanmiya) Coalition, led by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani, confirmed on Thursday.
Khaled Walid told Shafaq News that negotiations are continuing with all factions of the Shiite Coordination Framework (CF), the largest bloc in parliament, alongside Sunni and Kurdish forces, stressing that securing a second term for Al-Sudani depends on achieving broad political consensus.
Walid named Al-Sudani and former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, leader of the State of Law Coalition, as the only figures currently holding formal political backing, while describing other circulating names as “unendorsed and largely deployed as bargaining tools.”
Read more: Five contenders eye Iraq's top post: PM selection looms
The remarks followed comments from Al-Nasr (Victory) Coalition spokesperson Aqeel Al-Rudaini, who informed Shafaq News on Wednesday that the Coordination Framework may nominate the next prime minister during its December 22 meeting, citing mounting economic strain from falling oil prices, worsening water shortages, unresolved Popular Mobilization Forces issues, and growing external pressures that “demand strong foreign policy experience.”
Earlier in the week, the Coordination Framework called for a parliamentary session to elect the speaker and leadership after failing to reach agreement on forming the government.
Under Iraq’s constitution, parliament must convene within 15 days of election ratification to elect its speaker and deputies, followed by a presidential election within 30 days, after which the president tasks a prime minister-designate with forming a government.
Read more: Iraq begins 90-day countdown to form government as political fault lines re-emerge
President Abdul Latif Rashid has scheduled December 29 for the first parliamentary session, which will be chaired by the oldest elected lawmaker, Amer Al-Fayez.
Iraq’s post-2003 power-sharing system allocates the speakership to a Sunni, the premiership to a Shia, and the presidency to a Kurd.
