When Iraq’s Shiite political elite needed a way out of months of paralysing infighting over who would lead the next government, they turned not to a veteran politician but a young billionaire.
Businessman Ali Al Zaidi, 41, was nominated on Monday as Iraq’s compromise candidate for prime minister. The nomination embodies the rise of a new Iraqi elite: wealthy, well-connected and largely untouched by the ballot box.
Mr Al Zaidi’s business empire stretches from supplying Iraq’s vast government-run food basket programme, which serves millions of citizens, to interests in banking, construction, property, tourism, agriculture, food, glass, education, medical services and energy.
The Co-ordination Framework, Iraq’s largest Shiite alliance of Iran-aligned political factions, put Mr Al Zaidi forward to break a deadlock due to which the group missed its constitutional deadline to appoint the new prime minister.
His nomination ended a feud between caretaker prime minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani and former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki, but immediately revived debate over the blurred lines between Iraq’s political class and the tycoons who emerged after the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Post-2003 business empire
Mr Al Zaidi has no political history. Instead, his public profile is built on a business that flourished on lucrative deals with the government.
He is best known as chairman of the National Holding Company, which owns businesses across various sectors, and he also leads the boards of Al Shaab University and the Ishtar Medical Institute.
He has a bachelor's degrees in law, finance and banking, and a master's degree in finance and banking, a combination, his CV says, provides “deep legal understanding with specialised financial awareness”. It does not mention from which educational establishments he graduated.
Mr Al Zaidi's CV, distributed by the Co-ordination Framework, touts a “comprehensive national vision, focused on strong institutions, productive economy, modern education and international partnerships”.
But it is his commercial dealings with the state that draw the most scrutiny. Mr Al Zaidi’s firm Al Awees handles total investments of up to $500 million, according to its website. The company says it holds long-term contracts to supply staple foods to Iraq’s Public Distribution System, the subsidised ration card programme that feeds millions, as well as providing catering for the Iraqi army.
His name is also linked to Iraq’s banking sector, which has been widely accused of corruption, and is notorious for being used by political parties to accumulate funds and smuggle US dollars to sanctioned countries, mainly Iran.
He was chairman of Al Janoob Islamic Bank for Investment and Finance, one of eight Iraqi commercial banks banned from engaging in US dollar transactions since early 2024. The ban was imposed by the Central Bank of Iraq at the direction of the US Treasury and Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which cited concerns over fraud, money laundering and other illegal use of US currency.
Mr Al Zaidi's CV credits his tenure at Al Janoob with providing experience in “banking management, financial governance, credit and investment policies, risk management and enhancing confidence in the banking sector”.
At National Holding, he promotes “multisector investment” and private-sector job creation, it added. In education, he argues that universities must be linked to labour market needs and that “education is the backbone of building a modern state”.
While Mr Al Zaidi is not himself under sanctions, the Treasury’s move placed a bank he once chaired at the centre of US-Iraq financial tension – a complication for any prime minister who will need to negotiate with Washington over dollar transfers amid the US-Iran war and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.
Although his supporters describe him as a technocrat, he is seen as a product of Iraq’s post-2003 system, under which businessmen with ties to party leaders secure state contracts and regulatory favour.
Several pictures have been published showing him with senior Shiite politicians, including Mr Al Maliki and Qais Al Khazali, leader of Iran-backed militia Asaib Ahl Al Haq, at various events.
The US-sanctioned Mr Al Khazali extended his “warmest congratulations” to Mr Al Zaidi, saying his nomination came at “this pivotal stage, which demands wisdom, determination and unwavering resolve”.
Votes and power
Mr Al Zaidi has taken part in conferences on development, investment and governance, which, his CV says, reflect an ability to “build bridges with influential institutions and figures in politics and economy”.
Critics pinpoint this as the problem: his rise reflects a governing class where access, not votes, determines power.
“That’s how you vote for ‘Mohammed’ but you get ‘Ali’,” Baghdad resident Jamal Hameed, 63, told The National. “Why do we hold elections every four years if no one respects the results? They can just continue rotating the posts among them.”
The Framework's choice of Mr Al Zaidi came a day after US charge d’affaires Joshua Harris, blasted the bloc for including sanctioned militia leader Abu Ala Al Walai in talks on the issue, warning Iraq to choose between being a “partner or adversary” of the US.
Washington, which rejected Mr Al Maliki's nomination over his ties to Iran and its proxies – and warned Iraqis of economic and security measures if the next government includes Iran-backed militias – has yet to comment on the nomination.
British ambassador to Iraq Irfan Siddiq welcomed the move and wished him success. “We look forward to working with the new government on the urgent challenges facing Iraq – particularly on security and economy,” Mr Siddiq said on X.
Mr Al Zaidi has 30 days to submit members of his government after Iraqi President Nizar Amedi charged him late on Sunday with forming a cabinet. An absolute majority is needed in parliament to endorse the government.
Mr Al Zaidi would inherit an economy battered by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a situation that has cut oil exports, the main lifeline to Iraq’s economy, from 3.5 million barrels per day to 300,000, putting pressure on the already volatile economy.
He would need to fight endemic corruption and restore strained ties with neighbouring Gulf countries after pro-Tehran militias launched attacks against US troops there in solidarity with Iran.
