Shafaq News– Baghdad

Iraq’s cabinet negotiations are advancing, with caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development (Al-Ima’ar wal Tanmiya) Coalition expected to secure the largest share of ministerial posts, while the Shiite Coordination Framework (CF) moves closer to naming its prime ministerial candidate, sources told Shafaq News on Monday.

According to one source, Al-Sudani’s bloc, which secured 46 seats in the recent parliamentary elections, is poised to receive five ministries and one independent authority, in line with its parliamentary weight. The portfolios under discussion include oil, industry and minerals, labor and social affairs, and the Baghdad Investment Commission.

The Finance Ministry, he added, is set to go to Kurdish parties, while the Foreign Ministry is likely to be assigned to the Al-Hikma (Wisdom) Movement led by Ammar Al-Hakim, noting that the Education Ministry is expected to be allocated to the Sadiqoon bloc, the political wing of Qais Al-Khazali’s Asaib Ahl Al-Haq, and the Interior Ministry to Hadi Al-Ameri’s Badr Organization. “Talks continue over the remaining independent bodies, with allocations linked to political and electoral entitlement.”

Meanwhile, Abu Mithaq Al-Massari, a figure close to the CF, Iraq’s largest parliamentary bloc, told our agency that the nomination of former prime minister Nouri Al-Maliki, whose State of Law Coalition won 29 seats, is nearing completion, citing broad internal support. Al-Maliki, he affirmed, is seeking confirmation through consensus rather than a competitive vote, with a formal decision expected at the bloc’s next meeting.

Political sources previously confirmed to Shafaq News that the Framework plans to convene on January 19 to finalize both the prime ministerial nomination and cabinet distribution. Earlier meetings were postponed due to internal disagreements over a “contentious candidate,” widely understood to relate to Al-Maliki’s potential return after Al-Sudani withdrew from seeking a second term.

Under Iraq’s post-2003 power-sharing arrangement, the presidency is held by a Kurd, the premiership by a Shiite Arab, and the parliamentary speakership by a Sunni Arab. CF–aligned forces control roughly 180 of the 329 seats, giving the alliance decisive leverage in forming the next government.

Read more: Nouri Al-Maliki: A name that still divides and tests the politics of memory