Al-Hakim urges the Kurds to decide on a presidential candidate to facilitate the formation of the Iraqi government.
The head of the National State Forces Alliance, Ammar al-Hakim, called on the Kurdish forces on Thursday to agree on a candidate for the position of President of the Republic, stressing that this consensus would “facilitate the task” for the rest of the political forces in completing the constitutional requirements.
This came during his meeting with the Turkish Ambassador to Baghdad, Anil Bora Inan, where they reviewed developments in the Iraqi and regional arenas, and ways to strengthen relations between the two neighboring countries.
According to a statement from his office seen by Shafaq News Agency, Al-Hakim expressed his hope for the continuation and adherence to the regional ceasefire, and the commencement of negotiations leading to a comprehensive agreement that guarantees lasting peace, stressing that “the dialogue table is capable of resolving all problems if the serious will is available.”
On the domestic front, Al-Hakim reiterated that the current circumstances in the region necessitate a “fully empowered government” capable of addressing security, economic, and service challenges, noting that resolving the presidential issue is the primary entry point for this process.
Al-Hakim’s call comes at a time when the coordinating framework that includes the ruling Shiite political forces in Iraq intends to decide on the position of President of the Republic in the House of Representatives session scheduled to be held at the beginning of next week, whether or not an agreement is reached between the Kurdish forces, to whom this position has become their share, while the nomination of a candidate for the position of Prime Minister will be postponed until further notice due to the lack of agreement on this aspect, according to what MP Jawad Rahim Al-Saadi of the National State Forces Alliance told Shafaq News Agency earlier today.
Iraqi political parties are trying to alleviate the internal pressure they are under, especially after several months have passed since the legislative elections in late 2025 and their failure to form a new Iraqi government. Regional developments have added another layer of complexity to the scene, with security tensions escalating to unprecedented levels in the Middle East region.
After the Iraqi parliament elected its new speaker, who is from the Sunni component, it was the Kurds’ turn to present their candidate for the position of President of the Republic, which is from this component.
It has been customary for this position to go to the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, but in the last two election cycles, the Kurdistan Democratic Party objected to this and began demanding that a candidate from its party assume this position, especially after it swept the elections with the highest number of votes in the two cycles in the Kurdistan Region.
At the end of 2025, Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani called for a change in the mechanism for electing the Iraqi president, which is the “quota of the Kurds,” while he submitted a proposal that stipulates that this position be held by a candidate chosen by the Kurdish parties and blocs, and not necessarily be exclusive to the two main parties in the region (the Kurdistan Democratic Party and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan).
The issue of selecting a Kurdish candidate for the presidency of the Republic of Iraq, a position traditionally reserved for this component of Iraqi society, remains unresolved due to political disagreements and a lack of consensus between the two main parties in the Kurdistan Region.
After the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime in the spring of 2003 at the hands of American forces and their allies, the major political forces of the Shiites, Kurds, and Sunnis adopted a quota system in distributing positions for the three presidencies: the Prime Minister’s office, the Republic, and Parliament.
The Coordination Framework had officially nominated Maliki on January 24, a move that opened the door to negotiations to form the new government, but the process faltered as disagreements continued over the election of the President of the Republic, the constitutional entitlement that precedes assigning the candidate of the largest bloc to form the government.
Any future prime minister in Iraq will face challenges in managing the balance between Iranian influence and American pressure, as well as the issue of armed factions linked to Tehran.
Pressure on Maliki’s nomination increased after US President Donald Trump announced on January 27 that Washington would not continue to support Iraq if Maliki returned to the premiership, while Maliki later said he would welcome a decision to replace his nomination if it came from the coalition that nominated him.
An informed political source revealed to Shafaq News Agency at the beginning of March that the Coordination Framework had withdrawn its nomination of Maliki for the position of Prime Minister.
Shafaq.com