Source: Iraq’s CF splits between Al-Sudani and Al-Maliki camps ahead of presidential vote
Shafaq News- Baghdad
Iraq’s parliamentary session to elect a president on Saturday is expected to expose divisions within the ruling Shiite Coordination Framework (CF), with two rival camps emerging over the next prime minister.
Abu Mithaq Al-Massari, a political researcher and member of the CF —a coalition of parties that forms Iraq’s largest parliamentary bloc with more than 185 seats— told Shafaq News that the tensions stem from the bloc’s failure to agree on a prime ministerial candidate and the ongoing deadlock within the Shiite political camp, warning that the alliance could “unravel” after the vote.
Meanwhile, a source inside the Framework explained that one camp supports proceeding with the presidential vote to pave the way for renewing caretaker Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s term, backed by groups including the Al-Hikma Movement led by Ammar al-Hakim, and the Sadiqoun bloc —the political wing of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq.
The opposing camp rejects this approach and is pushing to nominate former prime minister and head of the State of Law Coalition (SLC) Nouri al-Maliki as the sole candidate for the premiership. According to the source, this camp is seeking to break quorum during today’s session to block the vote and force new negotiations that could secure al-Maliki’s nomination, while internal contacts have so far failed to produce a compromise.
Parliament is scheduled to convene at 11 a.m. local time to elect a president —a constitutional step required before naming a prime minister under Iraq’s post-2003 power-sharing system, which allocates the presidency to a Kurd, the premiership to a Shiite, and the speakership to a Sunni Arab. The process has stalled for months due to disputes between the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) over a joint candidate, alongside internal disputes within the CF, which nominated al-Maliki but remains split over his candidacy amid reported US opposition.
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Several factions —including the KDP, the SLC, and the Al-Azm Alliance— have announced a boycott, arguing that proceeding without prior political consensus violates power-sharing norms, while other blocs —including the National State Forces Alliance, the Taqaddum Party, the PUK, the Reconstruction and Development Coalition, Sadiqoon, and the Iraqi Turkmen Front— have insisted on holding the session as scheduled.
Parliament Speaker Haibet al-Halbousi urged lawmakers to attend and warned he would publicly identify absent members and the blocs preventing their participation.
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