Badr bloc lawmaker: Coordination Framework has failed to pass a candidate for PM

BAGHDAD — A lawmaker from the Badr bloc warned Tuesday that Iraq’s prolonged political impasse is beginning to affect citizens directly, saying the Coordination Framework has failed to resolve the government formation crisis four months after parliamentary elections.

“The time for negotiations is over, and the time for consensus is over,” Zahraa Luqman, a member of parliament from the Badr bloc, said in an interview with Al-Iraqiya News. “There was a blow from within the Coordination Framework, and I believe we can now say that the framework has failed to resolve the crisis.”

Luqman said the stalemate is having real economic consequences. “We gave time for agreements, but you did not succeed. Today, the economic crisis will begin to hit citizens. Investments are stalled and the country is at a standstill, and you come without appreciating the scale of the disaster we are facing. Four months have passed and we have not been able to settle the issue of the prime ministerial candidate.”

She was pointed about the depth of support for the framework’s nominated candidate, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. “Among the ten who support Mr. al-Maliki, there is not a single one who truly backs his nomination except the State of Law coalition,” she said, adding that opponents “do not have an alternative.”

“Today, I say clearly and in bold terms: the Coordination Framework has failed to pass a candidate for prime minister,” Luqman said.

The Coordination Framework has been locked in negotiations since the November elections. The alliance nominated Maliki, who served from 2006 to 2014, as its candidate, a move that drew public objections from the United States. President Donald Trump said Washington would “no longer help” Iraq if Maliki returned to office. Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, whose coalition won the most seats within the framework, later withdrew his candidacy and endorsed Maliki.

U.S. Ambassador Tom Barrack has since visited Baghdad and met with political figures, stating that “a government installed by Iran will not be successful” — comments widely seen as directed at the ongoing negotiations.

Some excerpts of Zahraa Luqman’s interview on Al-Iraqiya News:

As Badr, and as a personal opinion, the time for negotiations is over, and the time for consensus is over. There was a blow from within the Coordination Framework, and I believe we can now say that the framework has failed to resolve the crisis.

We gave time for agreements, but you did not succeed. Today, the economic crisis will begin to hit citizens. When the breach came from within the framework, we became like our brothers in the Sunni component. I believe, and I say this as someone within the framework, that we failed to manage the process of electing a prime minister.

Those who object to Mr. al-Maliki’s nomination do not have an alternative.

Today, citizens are calling us from morning to night, and we tell them we cannot do anything until the government is formed. Investments are stalled and the country is at a standstill, and you come without appreciating the scale of the disaster we are facing. Four months have passed and we have not been able to settle the issue of the prime ministerial candidate.

When we return to the facts as I see them, among the ten who support Mr. al-Maliki, there is not a single one who truly backs his nomination except the State of Law coalition.

If al-Maliki is told he is not the candidate, nothing will diminish him. He has already served two terms, and he would be affected by only 1 percent, but the people would be affected by 99 percent. Today, I say clearly and in bold terms: the Coordination Framework has failed to pass a candidate for prime minister.