PM al-Sudani Visits al-Maliki as Coordination Framework Struggles to Finalize PM Candidate

Peregraf — Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani visited former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki on Tuesday to discuss accelerating government formation, as Iraq's Coordination Framework (CF) continues to face deadlock over naming the country's next prime minister.

Hisham al-Rikabi, head of al-Maliki's press office, said al-Maliki received al-Sudani at his office and both sides stressed the need to complete constitutional requirements quickly and move forward with forming the next government.

The visit comes after the CF again failed Monday night to officially finalize its prime minister candidate, despite growing pressure from the approaching deadline.

According to sources, both al-Sudani and al-Maliki — the two main rivals for the post — have effectively stepped back from direct competition and have instead backed two separate candidates close to them.

Dispute Over Selection Mechanism

Al-Sudani's political camp insists that the only solution is to appoint the candidate of the largest electoral bloc or allow all CF members of parliament (MPs) to decide through a majority vote.

Meanwhile, al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition continues to push for a two-thirds majority within the CF itself, a formula critics say makes agreement nearly impossible given the current internal split.

Mushriq al-Fraiji, an official in the Reconstruction and Development Coalition aligned with al-Sudani, said there are only two realistic options left.

"After the Coordination Framework's failure to agree on a name or even a mechanism for selection, there are only two ways to break the political deadlock," he said.

He listed either returning to the largest winning bloc's candidate or allowing all 164 CF MPs to vote and settle the matter.

Al-Fraiji claimed their camp believes 114 of the 164 MPs support their candidate, while only 50 back al-Maliki's preferred nominee.

Basim al-Badri's Name Emerges

Monday night's planned CF meeting was postponed until Wednesday, even though a source told Peregraf that the alliance had reached a majority vote in favor of Basim al-Badri.

According to the source, al-Badri was chosen as the prime minister candidate through a majority vote, but internal objections and protests prevented the official announcement.

Al-Badri is a member of the Islamic Dawa Party and has served since 2013 as head of the Supreme National Commission for Accountability and Justice, the body responsible for implementing Iraq's de-Baathification law and vetting senior officials.

His possible nomination is widely seen as a compromise solution after weeks of internal divisions over al-Maliki's candidacy.

Deadline Nears

The political urgency follows the April 11 election of Nizar Amedi as President of Iraq. Under the constitution, Amedi was required to designate the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc to form the next government upon taking office. However, with the CF still unable to agree on a candidate, the bloc set an internal deadline to resolve the matter, adding pressure on its members to settle their disputes and avoid further political paralysis.