Maliki warns withdrawal from premiership bid will undermine Iraq’s sovereignty
Former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says his withdrawal of candidacy for the premiership would jeopardize the Arab nation’s sovereignty, emphasizing that he would only step aside if the main Shia alliance, which holds a parliamentary majority, asks him to do so.
In an interview with Iraqi television network al-Sharqiya that was broadcast on Tuesday, Maliki was asked whether he would withdraw if his candidacy posed a threat to Iraq’s interests.
“Of course, I would withdraw … but I believe that withdrawing now endangers Iraq’s sovereignty,” and would undermine any future decision Iraq has to make.
“I have said it: I am proceeding with this nomination until the end.”
He added that only the Coordination Framework could change that.
“The framework comes first and foremost. If it now decides to change the nomination, I will accept with open arms,” Maliki said.
Last week, Trump warned Iraq that if Maliki were chosen as Iraq’s next prime minister, then Washington would withdraw support to Baghdad.
Maliki rejected Trump’s threat in a post on the social media platform X, condemning the “blatant American interference in Iraq’s internal affairs” and insisting that he would not withdraw his candidacy for the top job.
The Coordination Framework said in a statement on Saturday that it “reiterates its support for its nominee, Nouri al-Maliki, for the premiership.”
“Choosing the prime minister is an exclusively Iraqi constitutional matter … free from foreign interference.”
Maliki served as Iraq’s prime minister from 2006 to 2014 and as vice president between 2014 and 2015 and again from 2016 to 2018. He currently heads the Islamic Dawa Party political movement.
He is a senior figure in Iraq’s political scene and maintains close ties with various factions, including parties linked to the Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) that have opposed foreign interference in the Arab country’s affairs. The PMU was formed in 2014 to fight the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group and was later incorporated into Iraq’s armed forces.
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