Shafaq News– Baghdad

Islamic Dawa Party, led by former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, on Saturday welcomed Iraq’s largest bloc’s decision to nominate him for the post of prime minister, describing the step as coming at a critical moment marked by major internal and external challenges.

In a statement, the party expressed “high appreciation” for the trust placed in al-Maliki as a candidate for prime minister and tied the success of his task to a set of political and national conditions, foremost among them “commitment to the valuable guidance” of the country’s top Shiite religious authority, Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and the adoption of a cohesive national discourse that reassures all domestic and international parties.

Advancing the task, it added, requires broad cooperation among Islamic and national political forces, including the formation of a cabinet composed of “qualified and trustworthy” figures capable of meeting public expectations.

The party also emphasized the need to establish a balanced partnership among Iraq’s main components —Kurds, Sunnis, and other national groups— and called for inclusive participation by their political representatives in decision-making, policymaking, and the setting of national priorities.

Earlier today, the Coordination Framework (CF), an umbrella alliance of Shiite parties holding more than 185 seats in Iraq’s 329-member parliament, formally nominated al-Maliki as its candidate for prime minister. Al-Maliki previously served two terms between 2006 and 2014 and leads the State of Law Coalition, which won 29 seats in the most recent parliamentary elections.

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