Hakim says talks with Maliki focused on election timelines and economic challenges

BAGHDAD — Ammar al-Hakim, head of the Al-Hikma Movement, said Sunday that his meeting with Nouri al-Maliki, leader of the State of Law Coalition, focused on completing electoral obligations and confronting looming economic challenges.

In a statement, Hakim’s media office said the talks addressed “adherence to constitutional deadlines for completing electoral obligations, ways to confront upcoming challenges, particularly economic ones, and maintaining and reinforcing stability to ensure its continuity.” The statement added that the meeting also emphasized “preserving and strengthening the unity of the Coordination Framework as one of the pillars of stability in Iraq.”

The meeting comes amid reports that the Coordination Framework is moving toward nominating Maliki for a third term as prime minister. Maliki served as premier from 2006 to 2014, securing a second term after the 2010 election before stepping aside in 2014 under intense domestic and international pressure following the collapse of Iraqi army positions and the fall of Mosul to the Islamic State group.

Meanwhile, Qusay Mahboubah, a leader in Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition, described the positions of the Al-Hikma Movement and Asaib Ahl al-Haq, led by Qais al-Khazali, on Maliki’s candidacy as “confused.” His comments come as political sources speak of broad backing within the Coordination Framework — reportedly involving more than 120 lawmakers — for Maliki to form the next government.

In the Nov. 11, 2025 parliamentary election, al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition won 46 seats, followed by Maliki’s State of Law Coalition with 29, leaving the Coordination Framework to negotiate internally over the nomination of the next prime minister.