CF outlines government plan amid wait for al-Sadr’s stance
Shafaq News – Baghdad
Leaders of Iraq’s Coordination Framework, the coalition of ruling Shiite parties, met late Wednesday after the release of preliminary election results to discuss forming the next government and choosing a prime minister, a political source said.
The source told Shafaq News on Thursday that the meeting outlined general guidelines for the upcoming political process, stressing adherence to constitutional timelines. “The Framework is keen to complete the government structure within the set deadlines,” the source added, noting that the issue of the premiership would be settled soon, especially as the early results “revealed the political and parliamentary weight of both the Coordination Framework and the State Administration Coalition as a whole.”
According to the source, granting Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani a second term has not been ruled out, unless one of the key factions within the bloc opposes it — a reference to the stance of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who leads the State of Law Coalition. Most Coordination Framework parties attended the meeting, the source said, with the exception of al-Sudani.
“The identity of the next prime minister will be determined after the legal ratification of the election results,” the source added.
The meeting also discussed potential understandings with groups that boycotted the election, particularly the Patriotic Shiite Movement (PSM) led by Muqtada al-Sadr, to assess their position regarding a possible second term for al-Sudani and their role in the coming political phase.
Iraq concluded its sixth parliamentary elections since 2003 on Tuesday, with the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) reporting voter turnout above 56%. According to the final tallies, al-Sudani’s Al-Ima'ar Wal Tanmiya (Reconstruction and Development) led in eight of Iraq’s 18 provinces, securing 45 seats.
Within the CF alliance, Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law (E’tilaf Dawlat al-Qanoun) won 30 seats, Sadiqoon under Qais al-Khazali claimed 26, Badr headed by Hadi al-Ameri took 19, and the National State Forces (Quwa al-Dawla al-Wataniyah) led by Ammar al-Hakim earned 18.
Following constitutional procedures, IHEC will submit the certified results to the Federal Supreme Court. Once approved, the parliament must elect a president, who will then nominate a prime minister-designate, paving the way for the next government.
Iraq’s political system is built on power-sharing, with the prime minister drawn from the Shia community, the parliament speaker from the Sunni community, and the president from the Kurdish community.
