Iraq’s effort to form a new government stalled again this week, and this time the deadlock centered squarely on Washington. For the second time, parliament failed to convene a session to elect a new president and task a prime minister, as divisions widened over former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s bid to return to office following an explicit veto by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Sources from the Coordination Framework, a coalition of leading Shiite parties formed after the disputed 2021 elections, told Alhurra that this week’s failure was driven by disagreement over Maliki’s candidacy, not by Kurdish infighting as in the previous aborted session. That earlier session collapsed amid rival Kurdish presidential nominations.
One Iraqi lawmaker told MBN that U.S. opposition to Maliki has intensified internal fractures within the bloc, where several factions had already expressed reservations about his return even before Trump’s intervention. “The American rejection poured fuel on existing disagreements,” the lawmaker said.
According to the same source, resistance to Maliki’s nomination has since expanded beyond the Coordination Framework to include Sunni and Kurdish parties, both publicly and behind closed doors, complicating efforts to secure the consensus needed to move forward.
Efforts are underway to convene a new parliamentary session on Thursday, but its success depends on whether the Coordination Framework can resolve the Maliki question internally. “Everything depends on whether his candidacy is settled one way or another,” the lawmaker said.
Maliki has rejected the U.S. position outright, denouncing what he called “blatant American interference” in Iraq’s internal affairs. His remarks followed Trump’s warning to Iraqi political leaders that reinstating Maliki would have consequences for relations between Baghdad and Washington.
The Coordination Framework, which won a parliamentary majority in November’s elections and holds the constitutional right to nominate the next prime minister, is now working to contain the fallout. A senior figure within the bloc told Alhurra that Maliki and his allies attempted to open channels with U.S. officials to determine whether Trump’s veto was negotiable.
“The response was unequivocal,” the source said. “The American position fully aligns with Trump’s warning. Proceeding with Maliki would carry consequences for bilateral relations.”
That leaves the Coordination Framework facing a stark choice: press ahead with Maliki’s nomination and risk a rupture with Washington, or retreat and put forward an alternative candidate, a move that would likely expose internal divisions and weaken the bloc’s authority.
For now, most factions within the framework continue to back Maliki, but the source cautioned that the situation remains fluid. “There are ongoing efforts to persuade him to withdraw,” the source said. “Things could change up until Wednesday.”
The political uncertainty comes amid a shift in U.S. diplomatic engagement with Baghdad. Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told Kurdistan 24 that U.S. envoy Tom Barrack has assumed responsibility for the Iraq file, replacing Mark Savoia, a change that Iraqi officials believe is directly linked to the government formation crisis.
Reuters previously reported that Savoia, appointed by Trump in October, was removed from the role following what sources described as mismanagement, including his failure to prevent Maliki’s renewed bid for the premiership.
For now, Iraq’s political process remains frozen, caught between domestic power struggles and an external veto that has reshaped the balance of leverage in Baghdad.
Ghassan Taqi
A journalist specializing in Iraqi affairs, he has worked with the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) since 2015. He previously spent several years with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, as well as various Iraqi and Arab media outlets.
