Saturday’s meeting: 5 names in the race for prime minister, and the decision is nearing.
Saturday’s meeting: 5 names in the race for prime minister, and the decision is nearing.
2026-04-25
Shafaq News – Baghdad
The Reconstruction and Development Coalition, led by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, revealed on Saturday that it is close to finalizing the coordination framework for its final candidate for prime minister, while an informed source stated that an upcoming meeting will discuss voting on a number of prominent names.
Coalition leader Khalid Walid told Shafaq News Agency that “discussions and mutual visits between political forces are still ongoing, and a meeting is expected to take place this evening between Sudani and the leader of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, to resolve the issue of choosing the prime minister.”
Walid indicated that “there are expectations that this matter will be resolved within the day.”
Regarding talk of holding early elections, he explained that “some parties that are proposing this option realize that going to the House of Representatives at the present time is not in their interest, especially since their electoral size does not enable them to pass their positions within Parliament.”
Walid continued, saying that “the commitment of political forces, whether within the national sphere or within the coordination framework, to achieve consensus, even at a minimum level, to ensure unity of political decision-making, is currently facing clear obstacles that hinder reaching final understandings.”
He concluded by saying that “the Reconstruction and Development Coalition will have a clear position, and will present alternatives in case of failure to decide on the name of the designated candidate, and these options will be announced at a later time.”
In this context, a source within the coordination framework revealed to Shafaq News Agency that today’s meeting will discuss the voting mechanism for the final candidate for the next prime minister.
He indicated that “the names being considered include former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, the head of the Accountability and Justice Commission Bassem al-Badri, and politician Adnan al-Zurfi, in addition to al-Maliki and al-Sudani.”
The source noted that “the candidate who obtains two-thirds of the votes of the leaders of the coordination framework will be officially announced as the candidate for the next government,” indicating that “all candidates will be put to individual voting through several rounds.”
It is worth noting that an informed political source told Shafaq News Agency that a second meeting was held at the home of the leader of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, following the meeting of the Coordination Framework forces at the home of Humam Hamoudi on Friday evening, to discuss the path of forming the next government and distributing ministerial portfolios among the political blocs.
These moves come after a meeting of the Coordination Framework yesterday, which ended without deciding on a candidate for the premiership, after it became impossible to pass the candidates of the two main poles within the framework, namely the leader of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, and the outgoing Prime Minister, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, or whoever represents him in the nomination, in addition to putting forward new candidates.
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
