Shafaq News– Baghdad
The Shiite Coordination Framework (CF), Iraq's largestparliamentary bloc, will meet on January 19 to nominate former Prime MinisterNouri Al-Maliki as the next premier, a political source confirmed to ShafaqNews on Sunday.
According to the source, the alliance will also allocatecabinet portfolios, with the possibility of expanding the number of ministries. The current cabinet comprises 22 ministries, though the ministries of Cultureand Tourism and Antiquities could be merged. One ministry, he added, willremain under the framework, while another will be assigned to the NationalPolitical Council (NPC), an alliance representing Sunni forces that won seatsin the Iraqi parliamentary elections.
“The framework is expected to hold 12 to 14 ministries inthe next government,” the source concluded.
Another source had earlier indicated to Shafaq News thatdivisions over a “controversial” nominee led to the cancellation of a plannedframework meeting, initially scheduled for yesterday. While the individual wasnot named, political sources previously noted that the dispute centers on thepotential return of Al-Maliki.
The debate unfolds as Al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition,which secured 29 seats in the recent parliamentary elections, positions him asa leading contender within the CF. In parallel, caretaker Prime MinisterMohammed Shia Al-Sudani, whose Reconstruction and Development (Al-Ima’ar walTanmiya) Coalition won 46 seats, withdrew from seeking a second term.
Under Iraq’s post-2003 power-sharing system, the presidencyis held by a Kurd, the premiership by a Shiite Arab, and the speakership ofparliament by a Sunni Arab. CF-aligned forces control around 180 of the 329seats in parliament, giving the alliance decisive influence over the formationof the next government.
: Nouri Al-Maliki: A name that still divides and tests the politics of memory