Shafaq News – Baghdad

On Saturday, the Islamic Dawa Party’s Shura nominated the party’s Secretary-General Nouri al-Maliki for the post of prime minister in Iraq’s next government, according to a brief statement issued by the party.

Earlier in the day, a political source told Shafaq News that five candidates have submitted their resumes to the Shiite Coordination Framework (CF), which the party is a part of. The list includes caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Intelligence Service chief Hamid al-Shatri, former Youth and Sports Minister Abdul-Hussein Abtan, and Basim al-Badri, head of the Accountability and Justice Parliamentary Commission.

The source said all CF blocs were invited to propose names and that the list could grow, although the main competition currently revolves around al-Sudani, al-Maliki, and al-Shatri.

Read more: Five contenders eye Iraq's top post: PM selection looms