SULAIMANI (ESTA) — Iraq’s Coordination Framework will announce an alliance in the near future, a Shia leader said on Saturday, amid negotiations to form the largest parliamentary bloc and a new government.
Mahmoud Yassin Hayani, a leader in the Coordination Framework, said the group had gathered support from 133-135 lawmakers so far.
The Coordination Framework includes State of Law Alliance, al-Fateh Alliance, Ata Movement, National Forces Alliance, Haquq Movement and Fadhila party.
No single party holds an outright majority, so the next leader will be voted in by whichever coalition can negotiate allies to become the biggest bloc — which then elects Iraq’s president, who then appoints a prime minister.
In previous parliaments, parties from Iraq’s Shia majority have struck compromise deals to work together and form a government, with an unofficial system whereby the prime minister is Shia, the president is a Kurd and the speaker of parliament is Sunni.
The Sadrist Movement wants to form a national majority government while the Coordination Framework prefers a consensus government.
“Talks with the Sadrist movement and other parties are ongoing so as to work with effective partners,” Baghdad Today quoted Hayani as saying.
“The alliance has the largest number of members in the House of Representatives, and is still working on alliances with other blocs,” he added.
The Iraqi parliament failed to select a new president after major parties boycotted the session following the suspension of Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) candidate Hoshyar Zebari from presidential race.
Zebari’s suspension came after a lawsuit filed by two lawmakers accused him of years-long corruption.
The Iraqi parliament reopened door for presidential candidates for a period of three days.
Expert Ali al-Tamimi denounced the announcement as “unconstitutional”, saying that the legal deadline set to elect a president “cannot be broken, except by a decision from the Federal Court or an amendment of the law”, according to AFP.
The Iraqi federal court convened last week to rule whether the parliament’s decision to reopen door for presidential candidates was constitutional or not. But it delayed the session to March 1.
A lawmaker for the Coordination Framework, Mohammed Zyadi, said the group would not “become a party to the Kurdish conflict” on the position of the presidency.
“Our position is clear, and we have made it clear to all political parties that we do not want to be with one party against another,” he told al-Maaloumah news outlet.
In multi-confessional and multi-ethnic Iraq, the formation of governments has involved complex negotiations ever since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion toppled dictator Saddam Hussein.
