Dismissing Trump’s interference, Iraq’s Shia bloc backs Maliki as prime minister nominee

Iraq’s Shia bloc has reiterated its support for Nouri al-Maliki’s return to the premiership despite meddlesome remarks by US President Donald Trump on the Arab country’s domestic affairs.

In a statement on Saturday, the Coordination Framework, a collection of Shia parties that holds a parliamentary majority, defended its choice to nominate Maliki to serve again as Iraq’s prime minister.

“The choice of the prime minister is a purely Iraqi constitutional matter and should proceed without foreign interference,” it said, adding that the parliamentary bloc seeks balanced relations with international partners based on mutual respect.

Recently, the Coordination Framework nominated Maliki to the prime minister post, citing his political and administrative experience.

Trump cautioned Iraq against picking Maliki as its prime minister, threatening to withdraw the United States’ support for the West Asian country.

Maliki, who heads the Islamic Dawa Party, categorically rejected “blatant US interference in Iraq’s internal affairs.”  

In an X post, Maliki also stated that he would not withdraw his candidacy for the top job “out of respect for the national will and the Coordination Framework’s decision.”

Iraq's former PM Maliki rejects ‘blatant US interference’ after Trump warning

Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has rejected what he called “blatant US interference” in Iraq’s internal affairs, a day after Trump threatened to end support to Baghdad if he is reinstalled.

Maliki served as Iraq’s prime minister from 2006 to 2014 and as vice president between 2014 and 2015 and again from 2016 to 2018.

He is a senior figure in Iraq’s political scene and maintains close ties with various factions, including those linked to the anti-terror Popular Mobilization Units (PMU).

Iraqi President Abdul Latif Rashid congratulated Maliki on his nomination and expressed hope that he would strengthen Iraq’s development, political stability, and national partnership.

No one has right to interfere in Iraq’s affairs: Iran envoy

Additionally, on Saturday, Iran’s Ambassador to Baghdad Mohammad Kazem Ale-Sadeq said Tehran supports any candidate selected by the Coordination Framework and welcomes the nomination of Maliki as an experienced politician who managed major crises gripping Iraq.

In remarks to the Kurdish Ava TV, he also denounced the US opposition to Maliki’s candidacy as interference in Iraq’s politics.

“No person or country has the right to interfere in the internal affairs of a sovereign country like Iraq,” he emphasized.

Regarding Iraq’s presidency, Ale-Sadeq said that Iran had encouraged the country’s two main Kurdish parties to come to a consensus on a single candidate.

Earlier this week, Iraq’s parliament postponed a session to elect the country’s president after the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) failed to agree on a candidate.

Under Iraq’s sectarian quota system, the post of the prime minister goes to a Shia, the parliament’s speaker is a Sunni, and the presidency goes to a Kurd.

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