Exclusive: “Five ministries and no old files”: A meeting at Maliki’s house presents an offer to persuade Sudani
Exclusive: “Five ministries and no old files”: A meeting at Maliki’s house presents an offer to persuade Sudani
2026-04-25
Shafaq News – Baghdad
An informed political source reported on Saturday that a second meeting was held at the home of Nouri al-Maliki, leader of the State of Law Coalition, following a meeting of the Coordination Framework forces at Humam Hamoudi’s home on Friday evening, to discuss the formation of the next government and the distribution of ministerial portfolios among the political blocs.
The source told Shafaq News Agency that the meeting included Nouri al-Maliki, Amer al-Fayez, Mohsen al-Mandalawi, and Abu Alaa al-Walai, and discussed the outlines of a possible settlement within the coordination framework regarding the prime minister candidate and the mechanism for assigning ministries in the next government.
He added that a proposal will be presented at the Coordination Framework meeting on Saturday evening, which stipulates proceeding with the nomination of Bassem al-Badri for the premiership, in exchange for the Reconstruction and Development Coalition, led by Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, receiving five ministerial portfolios, including the position of Deputy Prime Minister, as well as a sovereign ministry.
According to the source, the initial understandings reached at the meeting also include “not opening the files of previous governments,” and working to improve Iraq’s relations with the countries of the region, within the framework of a political approach aimed at easing internal and external tensions with the launch of the new government.
He also noted that those present did not support the idea of moving towards the new compromise candidates that were put forward at Friday’s meeting.
These moves come after a meeting of the Coordination Framework on Friday evening, which ended without deciding on a candidate for the premiership, after the two main candidates within the framework could not be passed. These candidates are Nouri al-Maliki, leader of the State of Law Coalition, and Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the outgoing prime minister, or his representative in the nomination, in addition to putting forward new candidates.
Among the names put forward at Friday’s meeting were former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, politician Adnan al-Zurfi, and former minister Mohammed Sahib al-Daraji, in addition to the names previously circulated, namely Nouri al-Maliki, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and Basim al-Badri, with the possibility of adding other candidates.
The source indicated that there is local and international pressure to finalize the formation of the government, in addition to a “veto” on some candidates, which makes it more difficult to reach a final agreement within the framework.
The coordinating framework, which includes the ruling Shiite political forces in Iraq, has repeatedly failed to decide on its candidate for prime minister, while the government formation process has entered a critical phase following the election of Nizar Amidi as president of the republic. This puts the largest bloc before a constitutional deadline ending today, Saturday, to officially present its candidate, amid fears of a return to the political deadlock.
shafaq.com
