Iraq's SIIC rebuffs trump warning over Al-Maliki PM nomination

Shafaq News– Baghdad

The selection of Iraq’s next prime minister is a constitutional matter, determined solely according to the provisions of the constitution and the mechanisms of the political process, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC) said on Wednesday.

In a statement, Ali Al-Difai, the Council’s spokesman, noted that Iraq is a state with established institutions, capable of managing its political entitlements through an independent national will, urging non-interference in its internal affairs.

The statement marks the first Shiite political response to US President Donald Trump, who recently warned that former Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki should not return to office and that the United States could withhold aid if he were re-elected.

Last week, the Shiite Coordination Framework (CF), the largest bloc in the Iraqi parliament with around 185 of 329 seats, nominated Al-Maliki as its official candidate for Iraq’s next premier. His nomination received support from the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), and segments of the Sunni

National Political Council. Al-Maliki served as Iraq’s prime minister from 2006 to 2014, a period marked by major security, political, and institutional challenges. During his tenure, the rise of ISIS led to the group capturing large areas of Iraq in 2014.

Under Iraq’s post-2003 political system, the presidency is traditionally held by a Kurd, the premiership by a Shiite, and the speakership by a Sunni.

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