ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework on Friday postponed a meeting to decide on a prime minister candidate until Saturday, according to state media.
The bloc held its meeting at the residence of Humam Hammoudi, head of the Islamic Supreme Council (ISCI), after it had postponed a scheduled meeting from Wednesday to Friday.
The process has been marked by internal divisions among the alliance’s 12 constituent parties, which have yet to agree on a single candidate for prime minister, as the constitutional deadline is set to expire on Monday.
Ihsan al-Awadi, chief of staff to incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, and Basim al-Badri, a senior State of Law Coalition figure backed by Nouri al-Maliki, have been reported as leading contenders, officials told Rudaw on Tuesday.
The bloc initially put forward Maliki as its candidate, but US President Donald Trump firmly rejected his candidacy, saying Washington would “no longer help Iraq” if he were elected.
Notably, Abu Ala al-Wala’i, leader of the Kata'ib Sayyid al-Shuhada (KSS), attended the meeting after the US Department of State’s Rewards for Justice program earlier in the day announced a “reward of up to $10 million for information” on him, describing KSS as “an Iran-aligned terrorist group in Iraq.