Above photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.
Amid threats from Washington.
The US seeks to weaken Iranian influence in Iraq amid its efforts to promote regime change in Iran.
Iraq’s Shia political bloc reiterated its support on 1 February for nominating Nouri al-Maliki as the next prime minister, following threats from US President Donald Trump warning against Maliki’s return to power.
The Coordination Framework issued a statement on Saturday affirming “its support for its nominee, Nouri Kamel al-Maliki, for the premiership.”
“Choosing the prime minister is an exclusively Iraqi constitutional matter … free from foreign interference,” the statement added.
Maliki served as prime minister from 2006 to 2014, when US president Barack Obama insisted he step down amid a US-backed ISIS invasion of the country.
The US and its closest Iraqi ally, Kurdish politician Masoud Barzani, covertly helped ISIS conquer Mosul, Iraq’s second largest city, as well as the district of Sinjar, where the terror group carried out a genocide of the Yezidis religious minority. US officials then blamed the rise of ISIS on Maliki’s “sectarian policies.”
Earlier this week, Trump called Maliki a “very bad choice” for Iraq, arguing that his previous leadership was defined by “poverty and total chaos.”
“Because of his insane policies and ideologies, if elected, the United States of America will no longer help Iraq and, if we are not there to help, Iraq has ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom,” Trump said.
Maliki, who heads the State of Law Coalition and enjoys strong support from Iran, rejected Trump’s threat on Wednesday, insisting that he would not withdraw from consideration to return as prime minister.
Trump has been working with Israel to weaken the influence of Iran in Iraq, as part of a broader campaign for regime change in Tehran.
In recent weeks, Trump has massed US military forces in the West Asia region in preparation for a possible full-scale war against Iran. US and Israeli intelligence were also involved in riots and killings of Iranian security forces and civilians after protests over the collapsing currency erupted in late December.
The US wields important leverage over Iraq, as the country’s oil export revenue is held at the Federal Reserve Bank in New York. Washington can therefore cut off Iraq’s access to its own US dollar oil revenues, which make up roughly 90 percent of the country’s budget.
Amid Trump’s threats, some divisions have surfaced among Shia parties making up the Coalition Framework.
Ammar al-Hakim, leader of the National Wisdom Movement, boycotted a recent Coordination Framework meeting and rejected Maliki’s nomination, calling him a “controversial figure” for the prime minister position.
Former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, head of the Victory Coalition, also rejected Maliki’s candidacy, saying that “the interests of the people take precedence over individuals.”
As the largest and most influential Shia political alliance in Iraq, the Coordination Framework plays a central role in selecting the prime minister and forming the government following November’s parliamentary elections.
Under the sectarian political system imposed after the US occupation of Iraq in 2003, the president must be a Kurd, the prime minister a Shia, and the speaker of parliament a Sunni.
Parliament must first elect a president, who will then task the nominee of the largest parliamentary bloc with forming a government within 15 days.
However, the parliament failed to convene its scheduled session on Sunday to elect a president because the two main Kurdish political parties remained divided over a candidate.
The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) both continue to put forward their respective nominees, Fuad Hussein and Nizar Amedi, for president.
Under constitutional timelines, parliament is required to elect a president within one month of its first session, a deadline that expired on 28 January.
Meanwhile, Mark Savaya, named President Trump’s special envoy for Iraq in October, is no longer in that role, Reuters reported on Sunday, citing sources familiar with the matter.
One of the sources cited Savaya’s “mishandling” of key situations, including his failure to prevent the nomination of Maliki as the country’s next premier.
US Ambassador to Turkiye and Special Envoy for Syria Tom Barrack will now take over the State Department’s Iraq portfolio, according to one of the sources and a senior Iraqi official speaking with the news agency.
Savaya was scheduled to visit Iraq and hold meetings with senior officials last Friday, but canceled them at the last minute, two Iraqi officials said.
