Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani has withdrawn his bid for a second term in office, throwing his weight behind former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki instead.
Mr Al Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition emerged from the national election in November as the clear winner, taking 46 of the 329 parliamentary seats. However, it failed to obtain the majority needed to form a government.
Mr Al Sudani, who came to power in October 2022, had been attempting to secure another term in office since then but faced objections from other Shiite parties inside the Co-ordination Framework, the largest parliamentary bloc made up of mainly Iran-backed political parties and armed factions.
Mr Al Sudani's decision to back Mr Al Maliki follows weeks of talks, during which the two men were pushing to secure the nomination. The move to rally behind Mr Al Maliki aims to minimise internal conflict within the bloc and ensure a smooth transition of power, his coalition has said.
In a statement sent to The National, coalition spokesperson Firas Al Muslimawi emphasised that Mr Al Maliki's candidacy embodies the "Iraq First" principle, prioritising the country's interests above personal or factional gains.
"We believe in Nouri Al Maliki's ability to manage the state, based on his long political experience and objective understanding of the current situation," Mr Al Muslimawi said.
"This is not weakness, but political strength, and a clear message that differences can be managed within agreed frameworks, and that political brotherhood takes precedence over immediate gains."
Who is Al Maliki?
Mr Al Maliki is the Secretary General of Dawa Party, one of the main Shiite parties that fought Saddam Hussein. It became one of the influential parties after Saddam was overthrown, with a significant political weight in the country’s political process. Mr Al Maliki previously served two terms as prime minister, from 2006 to 2014.
Initially, he was considered by some in Washington to be “our man in Iraq”, at one time holding regular video calls with former US president George W Bush, who described him as “a good man with a difficult job”.
However, he was later accused of deepening the country's sectarian politics, fuelling corruption and increasing tension with Iraq’s mainly Sunni-dominated neighbours. He has succeeded in forging alliances with Iran and its proxies in Iraq.
Mr Al Maliki has repeatedly denied facilitating Iran-backed groups while in power, as billions of dollars of US reconstruction funds flowed into Iraq, but Americans were divided over the extent to which he was telling the truth.
His marginalisation of the country's Sunnis was seen by experts as having led to the ISIS 2014 onslaught that ended with the control of large areas in northern and western Iraq. His State of Law bloc landed 29 seats in the November election.
The Co-ordination Framework has yet to make a final decision on whether to back Mr Al Maliki or not. Given the complex web of alliances and rivalries in Iraq's politics, he is expected to face challenges.
