Iraq’s ruling Shiite bloc to narrow PM contenders to ten: Sources

ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework convened Monday night to narrow its list of 30 potential candidates for prime minister down to ten, senior members of the constellation of Shiite political parties told Rudaw.

Before the meeting was held, Amer al-Fayez, head of the Tasmim Alliance and a participant in the Framework’s meetings, told Rudaw that “the Coordination Framework will convene to discuss the issue of the prime minister candidate.”

He added, “Initially, there were 30 candidates, but only ten of them will be kept.”

Fayez further noted that a committee established by the Coordination Framework in mid-November to vet the potential candidates had recently submitted written questions to several contenders in preparation for the final shortlist.

A statement from the Coordination Framework, reported by Iraqi state media, the Iraqi News Agency (INA), confirmed that the bloc convened on Monday night but made no reference to the premier’s selection process.

Meanwhile, another Coordination Framework politician, Salam al-Zubaidi of the Nasr (Victory) Coalition, led by former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (2014–2018), told Rudaw that the meeting would take place at the home of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (2006–2014), leader of the State of Law Coalition.

Zubaidi noted that reaching an agreement on a nominee “is possible, but not 100 percent guaranteed.”

Iraq held its early legislative elections on November 9, followed by the general vote two days later. The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced the final results in mid-November.

The Reconstruction and Development Coalition (RDC), led by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, emerged as the frontrunner with 46 seats in the 329-member parliament.

Since then, negotiations have been underway between political parties to form the next cabinet.

Zubaidi named six leading contenders under review by the Coordination Framework, including Sudani and Maliki, whose coalition won 29 seats in the new legislature.

The other candidates are former Prime Minister Abadi, head of the Iraqi National Intelligence Service (INIS) Hamid al-Shatri, former Sports Minister Abdul-Hussein Abtan, and Asaad al-Eidani, governor of Iraq’s oil-rich Basra province.

The politicking comes as the Coordination Framework had in mid-November declared that it had formed parliament’s largest bloc - a decisive step toward selecting the next premier. The combined Shiite lists captured 179 seats in the vote, giving them the numbers needed to steer government-formation negotiations.