Skip to main content

Shiite bloc taps al-Maliki as PM candidate

From Mohammed Tawfeeq, CNN
Nuri al-Maliki is backed by the State of Law Coalition and the Iraqi National Alliance.
Nuri al-Maliki is backed by the State of Law Coalition and the Iraqi National Alliance.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
  • Iraq's top Shiite bloc picks Nuri al-Maliki to run for PM
  • Some in bloc say they didn't attend meeting or vote
  • Al-Iraqiya says it won't participate in any government headed by al-Maliki
RELATED TOPICS
  • Iraq
  • Nuri al-Maliki

(CNN) -- The National Alliance -- Iraq's main Shiite parliamentary bloc -- has tapped Nuri al-Maliki as its candidate for prime minister, an official in the political movement told CNN Friday.

Mohammed al-Daraji, a leading figure in the Ahrar bloc that is part of the Sadrist movement, confirmed Friday's vote to back al-Maliki, the current prime minister.

The alliance, made up of the State of Law Coalition and the Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition of powerful Shiite parties backed by Iran, now have a bloc with 159 seats. To form a government, a 163-seat majority out of 325 seats is needed.

The Iraqi National Alliance includes two of the country's most powerful Shiite parties: the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq and the anti-American Sadrist movement.

However, Abbass al-Amri, the spokesman for the Islamic Supreme Council said that his party and a few others did not attend the Friday meeting and that the vote only included State of Law and Sadrists.

"We respect their choice and we support any choice that could speed up the process to form the government but unfortunately this choice is unproductive," al-Amri said.

The main opposition to the bloc is al-Iraqiya, the largely secular and cross-sectarian bloc headed by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, which has already said it won't participate in any government headed by al-Maliki.

Al-Iraqiya eked out a victory in the March 7 national election, but its pronouncement last month highlighted a failure to form an Iraqi government, and Iraqi officials fear that insurgents would take advantage of the political vacuum by trying to reignite the Sunni-Shiite sectarian bloodshed that gripped Iraq for years.

The group says al-Maliki has been attempting to undermine al-Iraqiya.

"Al-Iraqiya believes that the current model of state administration, which is headed by Mr. Maliki, is void, and should not be repeated and al-Iraqiya will not participate in any government headed by Mr. Maliki," the group said in a September 25 statement.