ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Kurdistan Region President Nechirvan Barzani on Sunday held a phone call with Iraqi Shiite politician and former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki, congratulating him on his nomination for another term, according to a statement from the Kurdistan Region Presidency.
“President Nechirvan Barzani extended his congratulations to Mr. Nouri al-Maliki following his nomination as the candidate for Prime Minister of Iraq. The two leaders spoke by phone this evening,” the statement said.
During the call, President Barzani expressed his support for Maliki and wished him “success in forming a government that meets the aspirations of all Iraqi citizens and effectively addresses the country’s challenges.”
Maliki, in turn, was cited as “thanking the President for reaching out and for his words of congratulations.”
The call comes a day after Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework announced Maliki as its candidate for prime minister. In a statement on Saturday, the bloc said it had “decided by majority” to nominate Maliki, citing “his political and administrative experience and his role in managing the state.”
Following the announcement of Iraq’s legislative election results in mid-November, the Coordination Framework declared it had formed the largest bloc in the incoming parliament, a crucial step toward selecting the country’s next prime minister.
If Maliki secures enough votes in the legislature, he will begin a third term as prime minister, having previously served from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2010 to 2014.
In his last term, he stepped down in September 2014, months after ISIS launched a blitz offensive in June that captured nearly one-third of Iraq’s territory.