Public pressure and Marja'iyah might be the Framework's cards to force an agreement, source says

Shafaq News/ The Coordination Framework will continue the deliberations to decide the Shiite consortium's standing point from the initiative of the Kurdish leader Masoud Barzani and the next cabinet lineup, a source revealed on Wednesday.

The source told Shafaq News Agency, "the [Coordination] Framework is weighing its options regarding taking part in the next government amid the insistence of the Sadrist leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, to preclude a major member of the Framework, the State of Law."

"The forces of the Framework have made their demands clear. Nouri al-Maliki shall be a vice president, al-Hashd al-Shaabi (Popular Mobilization Forces-PMF) shall remain out of the question. It should not be canceled or restructured under any name. The same applies to the commanders of the armed factions who played a major role in liberating the western governorates."

"The meetings will continue to be held until the parliament meets to elect the president on February 8," the source said, "hopefully, a meeting might be scheduled between the leaders of the Coordination Framework and al-Sadr to hold direct talks and discuss those points."

"Once al-Maliki gets appointed a vice president, the deadlock will be eventually resolved and the matters will slide smoothly toward the formation of a national government," the source continued, "if the talks fail, the public opinion might be deployed to push toward Shiite unity. The Marja'iyah might be involved again. Other options that might exert some pressure might also be considered."

The Iraqi parliament is scheduled to meet on Monday to elect a president of the republic. The elected president instructs the largest bloc to name a prime minister-designate who will assemble the cabinet.