ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Prime Minister-Designate Ali al-Zaidi is set to visit the Kurdistan Region “in the coming days” to discuss the formation of Iraq’s next government and the distribution of ministerial portfolios, several officials from the country’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework confirmed to Rudaw on Thursday.
Saad al-Saadi, a politburo member of the al-Sadiqoon Movement - led by Iraqi Shiite cleric and senior Coordination Framework figure Qais al-Khazali - stated that the alliance of Shiite parties has formed a committee to assist Zaidi in preparing a ministerial program. He added that “a roadmap of what the next Iraqi government would look like will also be presented to different political actors,” including Kurdish parties.
In the coming days, Zaidi will visit the Kurdistan Region and meet with President Masoud Barzani, leader of the ruling Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP), Saadi said.
The Coordination Framework - the largest bloc in parliament, holding 174 seats in the 329-member legislature - on Monday named Zaidi as its candidate for prime minister, a post traditionally held by a Shiite.
Iraq President Nizar Amedi on the same day tasked Zaidi with forming a new government and presenting his ministerial program to parliament within 30 days of his designation, as stipulated in the Iraqi constitution.
Sherwan Dubardani, a Kurdish lawmaker representing the KDP in the Iraqi parliament, confirmed to Rudaw that Zaidi is indeed set to meet President Barzani. However, he noted that a date for the anticipated visit has not yet been set.
The Kurdish parliamentarian further noted that the KDP’s “participation in the next government should reflect the outcomes of the discussions and negotiations” with the prime minister-designate.
Meanwhile, Muayad al-Azirjawi, a prominent figure linked to the State of Law Coalition led by senior Coordination Framework politician and former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki (2006 - 2014), said that Zaidi “has already begun engaging with the political parties of the Shiite alliance on government formation.”
He anticipated that the prime minister-designation would meet with officials from the KDP, as well as the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) and other Kurdish parties in the Kurdistan Region in the coming days.
Of note, earlier on Thursday, Ali al-Daffayi, spokesperson for the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI) - led by Humam Hamoudi, another senior figure within the Coordination Framework - told Rudaw that Zaidi would soon meet with leaders of Kurdish and Sunni Arab political blocs “to agree on the distribution of ministerial portfolios.”
He added that the process would be guided by the public representation each bloc secured in the country’s latest legislative elections held in November, describing this as the “primary standard,” and anticipating that Kurdish and Sunni Arab blocs would receive five ministries each, while Shiite parties would hold between 12 and 13 ministries.
Daffayi further said that Kurdish parties would “likely head the foreign affairs, justice, and possibly water resources ministries,” noting, however, that the final allocation will be determined through “mutual agreement during consultations.”