Badr lawmaker says ‘blockade’ preferable to yielding on Maliki nomination

BAGHDAD — A Badr Organization lawmaker said a “blockade” would be preferable to what she described as outside and internal pressure to replace Shiite Coordination Framework nominee Nouri al-Maliki, arguing that calls for his withdrawal could set a precedent for further demands on Iraq’s political and security institutions.

Zahraa Luqman said in an interview on Alawla TV: “The worst-case scenario, if al-Maliki is installed, is a blockade, and that is 100 times easier than violating dignity. Today it is a tweet to change al-Maliki, and tomorrow they will say remove the Popular Mobilization Forces, and after that they will change ministers.”

Luqman said Trump’s Feb. 1 post opposing al-Maliki’s return may have come “in a moment of recklessness, but it was exploited by many internal parties.”

“We were on the verge of forming the government, then Trump’s tweet was exploited in a provocative way, making you realize that the allies with you care only about their interests and forgot sovereignty,” she said.

She said she would “insist and stand firm behind al-Maliki,” adding: “No one better than al-Maliki will come, and he has experience in running the state.”

Luqman suggested those who used the post to block al-Maliki are now reversing course. “Now those who benefited from the issue of the tweet have gone back to square one, and they are now calling to bring back al-Sudani, and that is what is being talked about today,” she said. “Why weren’t you brave from the beginning? A person should be decisive. Everything that happened was to reach this point and return to the al-Sudani option.”

The Coordination Framework nominated al-Maliki “by majority vote” on Jan. 25, calling the choice “a purely Iraqi constitutional matter.” Trump wrote on Truth Social that the United States would “no longer help” Iraq if al-Maliki returned, saying Iraq would have “ZERO chance of Success, Prosperity, or Freedom.”

Al-Maliki rejected what he described as U.S. interference. The Dawa Party has denied reports of his withdrawal, saying he “remains committed to running for the post of prime minister.”