Optimism prevails regarding the selection of the prime minister: the ball is in the Kurds’ court.

Optimism prevails regarding the selection of the prime minister: the ball is in the Kurds’ court.

2026-01-04 02:24

Shafaq News – Baghdad
On Sunday, a number of representatives of the Coordination Framework expressed their optimism about the possibility of the Framework, as the “largest bloc” in the House of Representatives, deciding on the name of the candidate for the next Prime Minister within the constitutional timeframes, noting that the Framework is waiting for the Kurdish partners in the political process to decide on the name of their candidate for the position of President of the Republic, which gives enough time to resolve the Prime Minister dilemma without delay.

Zuhair al-Jalabi, a member of the State of Law Coalition, told Shafaq News Agency that “there is no political deadlock within the coordination framework regarding the selection of the next prime minister, and the framework will resolve this issue according to the constitutional timelines without any delay or postponement, and the name of the framework’s candidate will be announced when the time comes according to the timelines.”

Al-Jalabi explained that “the political process is now facing the problem of choosing the president of the republic among the Kurdish political forces, and this is an important executive position equivalent to the position of prime minister, and not a protocol position as some promote, and everyone is seeking to solve this problem according to the constitutional timelines.”

He pointed out that “the past few days have witnessed great progress in the file of choosing the prime minister among the forces of the coordination framework, and there has become a great bilateral convergence between many of the forces, and therefore there is no real political deadlock that could disrupt the selection and violate the constitutional deadlines, as there are new alliances and new agreements that will be revealed soon, which will facilitate the process of resolving the file of choosing the prime minister.”

Al-Jalabi also pointed out that “the House of Representatives now includes representatives from resistance factions, and these representatives have become influential from the sides they belong to, and they will have a say in the process of choosing the next prime minister. This matter is almost settled, and currently the details are not being revealed until the president of the republic is elected, after which the framework will announce the name of its candidate, who will be the candidate of the largest bloc.”

For his part, Khalid Walid, a member of the Reconstruction and Development Coalition, told Shafaq News Agency that “the political forces have overcome one of the most important obstacles and resolved, according to the constitutional timelines, the first issue by electing the Speaker of Parliament and his two deputies. There was a difference in the vote, and this confirms the existence of a difference within the House of Representatives, and there is a new challenge, which is the election of the President of the Republic.”

Walid explained that “the political forces, especially within the coordination framework, are committed to the constitutional timelines, and there is an effort by various political parties to consolidate the Shiite political house, especially in light of the significant challenges in the Iraqi scene. These forces have learned a great lesson from five previous governments, and have gained experience in how to deal with the issue of electing the three presidencies.”

He added, “So far, the process of selecting the prime minister is proceeding smoothly, and choosing the name of the person tasked with the premiership is still early, and we have enough time, especially since it is the last stage in the process of forming the three positions. The dialogues are still ongoing and continuing despite the political stalemate and despite the existence of some outstanding issues that have not been fully settled, especially with the inability of the political forces to reach a consensus regarding the name of the candidate for prime minister.”

For his part, Hassan Fad’am, a leader in the Hikma Movement, told Shafaq News Agency that “there is no talk of a political deadlock or stagnation in the file of choosing the next prime minister by the forces of the Coordination Framework, and there is nothing hindering this file.”

Fadaam stressed that “negotiations and dialogues between the forces of the Coordination Framework regarding the selection of the Prime Minister are proceeding normally, and the Framework is committed to the constitutional timelines, and the Framework’s candidate for the presidency will be announced in due course.”

He added that “the current priority is not the prime minister, but rather the election of the president. According to political custom, this is the responsibility of the Kurdish political forces, and these forces must agree on one candidate or several candidates. The decision will be made in the House of Representatives through voting, and any candidate must obtain an absolute majority.”

The leader of the Wisdom Movement said that “the framework, as the largest bloc, will hand over its candidate to the President of the Republic on the day of his election by the House of Representatives to form the new government, and this confirms that there is no political deadlock within the framework.”

News sites reported that a bilateral meeting was held between Maliki and Sudani last night, which discussed the nomination for the premiership, but did not lead to a decisive agreement.

A member of the Shiite Coordination Framework revealed on Saturday evening that the criteria set by the framework for naming the next prime minister do not apply to outgoing Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani and his predecessor Nouri al-Maliki.

“The next prime minister has not yet been put forward by the Coordination Framework,” said Abdul Rahman al-Jazaeri, a member of the framework, to Shafaq News Agency. He added that if neither al-Sudani nor al-Maliki concedes to the other, and both remain committed to their candidacies, a compromise candidate acceptable to all parties will be chosen.

The Algerian believes that “the issue requires everyone’s agreement to choose a moderate candidate capable of managing the next stage,” noting that “the agreed-upon criteria for naming the next prime minister do not apply to either of the candidates (Sudanese and Maliki) nor do they apply to the names included in the list of candidates for the position for reasons known to the leaders of the framework.”

The head of the National State Forces Alliance, Ammar al-Hakim, confirmed earlier on Saturday that the coordinating framework that brings together the ruling Shiite political forces in Iraq has chosen nine candidates for the premiership, and indicated that the framework has asked these candidates to present their priorities and programs.

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