“Alternative to Maliki” is present in private discussions for the coordination framework

“Alternative to Maliki” is present in private discussions for the coordination framework

2026-02-07 03:22

Shafaq News – Baghdad
The Coordination Framework, which unites Shiite political forces, is holding talks to discuss the political deadlock amid expectations that a compromise candidate will be put forward as an alternative to Nouri al-Maliki, the leader of the State of Law Coalition.

Abu Mithaq al-Masari, a member of the Coordination Framework, told Shafaq News Agency that “the forces of the Coordination Framework will hold talks prior to the meeting of the State Administration Coalition scheduled to be held in the middle of this week, in addition to discussing the issue of the political deadlock in choosing a candidate for the presidency of the republic, and granting the representatives of the Framework the freedom to vote in favor of whomever they see fit in the event that the Kurds present candidates for the position.”

According to Al-Masari, the talks will also discuss the interrelationships between the components of the political process and maintaining the “principle of respecting others,” in reference to statements by the head of the “Progress” party, Mohammed Al-Halbousi, against Al-Maliki.

He pointed out that “the framework may call on political forces and the House of Representatives to convene and elect a president, in addition to discussing American threats in the region.”

Al-Masari added that “the State Administration Coalition will meet to discuss adherence to constitutional timelines and inter-political relations, in addition to other items.”

Meanwhile, sources within the coordination framework told Shafaq News Agency that “the talks will address, in an unannounced manner, the mechanism for replacing Nouri al-Maliki with an acceptable figure or a compromise candidate,” indicating that “the potential figure will be named and endorsed exclusively by al-Maliki.”

She pointed out that what is being discussed behind the scenes of the coordination framework suggests the name of Mohammed Al-Khazai, but he may not have internal and international support.

The sources continued, saying that “there is a figure whose identity is being kept secret who may be put forward, or we may go to the first framework scenario, which is to name Haider al-Abadi as a compromise candidate,” stressing that “everyone is preoccupied with how to address the political deadlock and spare the country any unforeseen consequences.”

It is worth noting that the US State Department revealed to Shafaq News Agency last Thursday a firm and strongly worded position regarding the upcoming political alliances map in Iraq, stressing that the US administration is prepared to use “a full range of tools” to ensure the implementation of President Donald Trump’s vision regarding the Iraqi file and to prevent Maliki from running for the position of Prime Minister of Iraq.

As reported by Bloomberg News last Tuesday, Washington informed Iraqi officials in recent days that it might reduce Iraq’s access to oil export revenues if Nouri al-Maliki is appointed prime minister, given the United States’ view of him as being close to Iran, which has increased the pressure on the coordination framework, according to observers.

Nouri al-Maliki, the leader of the State of Law Coalition, reiterated his commitment to running for the position of Prime Minister in the next government, despite American rejection of this, stressing that the selection of the Prime Minister is a national matter subject to the will of the people and constitutional institutions.

Political stalemate in the Kurdistan Region: repercussions and risks

Ali Hussein Faily/ The ongoing political stalemate between the two main parties in the Kurdistan Region is disrupting and delaying crucial decisions related to the region’s future, putting its prestige and external standing at risk in a region that has long been a relative model of political and security stability.

This political deadlock and the apparent failure to form a regional government stem from long-standing and public disagreements between the two main political factions. As this situation persists, the delay, now exceeding a year, has resulted in significant economic costs, estimated to range from several percentage points and potentially exceed 10% of the region’s GDP, due to the absence of a fully empowered executive authority capable of managing economic and financial affairs.

The failure to form a government has repercussions that extend beyond the economic sphere, coinciding with the paralysis of parliament and the lack of consensus on a single candidate for the Iraqi presidency. This accumulation of political gridlock and constitutional dysfunction imposes increasing political, security, and social burdens, while simultaneously creating an opening for escalating regional and international influence. The resulting decision-making vacuum is being exploited to advance foreign agendas at the expense of weakening the region’s negotiating position and standing.

These circumstances have contributed to a clear legitimacy crisis, reflected in a decline in public trust in institutions. The continued paralysis of parliament has crippled its legislative and oversight roles, halting the passage of vital laws affecting citizens’ lives and the region’s future. Currently, there is a noticeable and growing erosion of trust in democratic institutions as instruments of representation and crisis resolution.

More than a year of political and institutional vacuum has weakened Kurdish representation, leaving the region adrift without a clear direction in its dealings with Baghdad or with a rapidly escalating regional environment. Here, the cost cannot be measured in numbers alone, however significant they may be; rather, it transforms into a strategic pressure point working against the region, limiting its ability to maneuver and protect its gains.

Even more dangerous is that the continuation of this deadlock is redrawing the balance of power at the expense of Kurdish decision-making, while society silently pays the price of the crisis. The question is no longer about who caused the crisis, but rather about the magnitude of the political, economic, and security costs that will be borne before the losses become a permanent reality that is difficult to reverse.

In short, this stalemate entrenches a culture of crisis management rather than resolution, transforming political disputes into a permanent mode of governance where sensitive issues are handled with a logic of waiting and bargaining, not with the logic of the state and its institutions. With no clear timeframe for a solution, the region’s negotiating power with Baghdad erodes, its standing with international partners weakens, and the gap between the government and society widens. Continuing down this path not only means losing opportunities for development and stability, but also threatens to redefine the region as a vulnerable entity, after it had been presented for years as an exception in a turbulent environment.

The most dangerous aspect is that this impasse could redraw the balance of power at the expense of Kurdish decision-making, with the Kurdish community silently paying the price. But the real question is no longer who caused the crisis, but rather how much more it will cost before it becomes an irreversible reality.

What makes the situation even more dangerous is that this stalemate is entrenching a culture of crisis management rather than resolution, and transforming political disputes into a permanent mode of governance, where sensitive issues are handled with a logic of waiting and bargaining rather than one of statehood and institutions. With no clear timeframe for a solution, the region’s negotiating power with Baghdad is eroding, its standing with international partners is weakening, and the gap between the government and society is widening. Continuing down this path not only means losing opportunities for development and stability, but also threatens to redefine the region as a fragile and vulnerable entity, after it had been presented for years as a relatively exceptional area in a turbulent region.

Political analyst Marhan Sheikh Raouf revealed in an exclusive interview with Shafaq News Agency that the main reason behind the delay in forming the Kurdistan Regional Government, despite more than a year and four months having passed since the regional parliament elections, is the absence of a permanent constitution that regulates the political process and sets constitutional timelines for deciding on sovereign positions and forming the government, as is the practice at the federal level in Baghdad.

He explained that the absence of this constitution specific to the Kurdistan Region made the issue of forming the government entirely subject to political understandings, which opened the door to prolonging the negotiations, especially with the increasing size of the disputes between the parties that won the elections.

He pointed out that these disputes have cast a shadow on the general situation in the region and on the Kurdish street, in light of the current government continuing to operate in a caretaker capacity, which limits its ability to resolve many financial, legal and administrative issues.

Sheikh Raouf explained that the crisis of forming the regional government coincides with the crisis of forming the federal government, but he considered it unfair to hold the Kurds alone responsible for the obstruction, as some media outlets promote, by linking the matter to the lack of agreement on the position of President of the Republic.

He pointed out that there is also a lack of consensus within the coordinating framework forces regarding the prime minister’s personality, as well as the existence of parties that benefit from the continued delay in order to not resolve their political issues definitively.

He stressed that the dispute over the position of President of the Republic is related to the lack of a final agreement, whether within the Kurdish house or among the political forces in Baghdad, which made this entitlement part of a broader political equation related to the balances of forming the federal government.

He called on the Kurdish forces to prioritize the public interest over partisan interests, noting that the Kurdistan Democratic Party obtained the position of Deputy Speaker of Parliament, which is an important sovereign entitlement, which in his opinion calls for joint work with the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan to reach understandings on the rest of the entitlements, foremost among them the position of President of the Republic and the ministries allocated to the Kurdish share, in order to ensure the unification of the Kurdish position in Baghdad.

He pointed out that the delay in forming the two governments in Erbil and Baghdad has directly affected citizens, especially regarding the issue of salaries for employees in the Kurdistan Region, which remains stagnant in the absence of two fully empowered governments capable of making binding agreements.

He considered that this issue would be among the priorities of any future political settlement when the two governments are formed.

In comparing this to previous periods, Sheikh Raouf pointed out that the current intensity of disagreements was not as pronounced during the era of the late President Jalal Talabani. He explained that this period witnessed a greater convergence of views between the two main parties in the region, which contributed to resolving political issues more quickly. He clarified that the current lack of consensus and unity, coupled with the complex crises surrounding the formation of the regional government and the election of the president, has made the political landscape far more complicated than it was under Talabani.

He concluded by pointing to the possibility of changes in the political equations within the region, especially after the announcement of an alliance between the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the New Generation Movement, considering that this alliance may be one of the factors in redrawing the balances, especially after the resolution of the issue of the presidency of the republic and what other changes may result from it in the Kurdish and Iraqi scenes.

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Political analyst Suzan Mahmoud revealed in a special statement to a correspondent of Shafaq News Agency that the issue of delaying the election of the President of the Republic and the formation of the two governments in Baghdad and the Kurdistan Region is linked to accumulated political crises between the two main parties in the region, namely the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, noting that the roots of the dispute go back to the failure to form the Kurdistan Regional Government for more than a year.

She explained that the accumulation of political and organizational disputes has made reaching a consensus on the position of President of the Republic more complicated, noting that the passage of time without solutions exacerbates the problems and creates additional obstacles to any future political entitlement, which suggests that the current crisis will be more difficult than previous rounds.

She indicated that the divisions are not only related to the presidency, but also include the repercussions of the Iraqi parliamentary elections, the competition between the winning Kurdish blocs, in addition to security and economic issues, including the targeting of sensitive sites in Erbil and Sulaymaniyah, the ongoing salary crisis, as well as the lack of a unified vision for dealing with Baghdad regarding financial entitlements and the sovereignty of the region.

Regarding the delay in forming the regional government, she stressed that most political forces are dealing with a narrow partisan mentality instead of a comprehensive national vision, which has led to a mutual crisis of confidence between the parties themselves on the one hand, and between them and the citizens on the other.

She added that the core of the dispute revolves around the distribution of sovereign positions, as the National Union insists on obtaining one of the key presidencies or a sovereign ministry such as the Interior Ministry, while the Democratic Party adheres to the principle of “electoral entitlement” and granting the largest share to the first winner.

She suggested that the traditional political equation based on the agreement of the two parties may change this time, especially with the movements of political forces in Sulaymaniyah to form new alliances that may affect the shape of the next government, stressing that deciding on the position of the presidency of the republic will determine the course of forming the governments of Baghdad and Erbil together.

She also pointed out that the presence of the late President Jalal Talabani in previous stages was an important factor in facilitating political agreements, given his strong relations with various Kurdish and Iraqi parties, especially with Masoud Barzani, which gave the position of President of the Republic political weight and broad acceptance, factors which she believes are no longer available today.

She warned that the continued delay in forming the two governments has had a direct impact on the public economically and administratively, given the delay in paying the salaries of the region’s employees for several months, the transformation of the regional government into a caretaker government with limited powers, as well as the absence of the federal budget and the adoption of spending on a 1/12 system, which has caused delays in the salaries of retirees and the families of martyrs and an increase in taxes and fees.

She concluded by saying that the internal challenges coincide with regional and international pressures and interventions, including statements by former US President Donald Trump regarding the shape of the next government in Iraq, stressing that the current stage requires speeding up the formation of a comprehensive national government capable of protecting the rights of all components and addressing the escalating financial and political crises, in order to avoid greater repercussions on the general stability of the country.

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