Sudani’s ministerial “gains” revealed; politician: Maliki to head government

A source within the coordinating framework that brings together the ruling Shiite political forces in Iraq revealed on Monday that the Reconstruction and Development Coalition, led by caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, was given the largest share of ministries. Meanwhile, a politician close to the framework confirmed that the nomination of former Prime Minister and leader of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, as head of the next government will be decided at the framework’s next meeting.

The source told Shafaq News Agency that “the Reconstruction and Development Coalition will be granted five ministries with an independent body in accordance with their parliamentary and political weight, including the ministries of oil, industry and minerals, labor and social affairs, in addition to the Baghdad Investment Authority.”

The source added that “the Ministry of Finance will be allocated to the Kurds, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will go to the Wisdom Movement, the Ministry of Education will be allocated to the Sadiqun Bloc, while the Badr Bloc will have the Ministry of Interior, and understandings will continue regarding the distribution of other independent bodies according to political and electoral entitlement.”

In addition, Abu Mithaq al-Masari, a politician close to the coordinating framework, confirmed that “the issue of naming al-Maliki as head of the next government is almost settled by agreement of the majority, and it is hoped that this will be officially announced.”

Al-Masari told Shafaq News Agency that “the majority of the framework’s leaders support the nomination of Maliki as Prime Minister, but the latter aspires to obtain the position unanimously, that is, without objection from any party.”

He added that “the upcoming coordination framework meeting may lead to the announcement of the identity of the next prime minister.”

The leader of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, visited the leader of the Wisdom Movement, Ammar al-Hakim, to discuss issues related to the mechanism for deciding on the framework’s candidate for prime minister. Al-Hakim stressed “the unity of the coordinating framework and strengthening it as one of the pillars of stability in the country,” which is the same topic that was discussed in the meeting between al-Hakim and the outgoing Prime Minister, Muhammad Shia al-Sudani, according to statements from al-Hakim’s office on Sunday evening.

The leaders of the Coordination Framework were supposed to hold an “important and crucial” meeting last Saturday to discuss the disagreements over the nomination of Maliki for a third term, after objections were raised by Ammar al-Hakim and the Secretary-General of the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq movement, Qais al-Khazali, with reservations from the Secretary-General of the Badr Organization, Hadi al-Amiri, but the meeting did not take place.

An informed source told Shafaq News Agency that the postponement of the meeting was due to the fact that “some of the influential forces within the framework (the Wisdom Movement and Sadiqun) refuse to pass any candidate except by agreement and consensus, with the condition of the availability of the agreed controls, the most important of which is imposing the rule of balance inside and outside, meaning that he should not be a controversial figure.”

Despite this, the source confirmed that “the forces of the Coordination Framework have enough time to choose their candidate for the premiership, i.e., 15 days after the President of the Republic has named them. Therefore, they have enough time to choose their candidate with the agreement of all its parties, otherwise we will go to the vote within the framework to choose the one who meets the conditions.”

Since the ratification of the election results held in November 2025, the Coordination Framework has begun holding meetings and discussions among its members and with other parties to decide on the position of Prime Minister, which is allocated to the Shiite component according to the custom established after 2003.

Shafaq.com