Iraq enters second constitutional breach as PM nominee delay continues

BAGHDAD — Iraq has entered what legal interpretations describe as a second constitutional breach after the Coordination Framework failed to nominate a prime minister candidate within 15 days of President Nizar Amedi’s April 12 election, repeating a pattern seen earlier when the presidency itself remained unfilled for 71 days.

Despite ongoing negotiations, divisions persist within the bloc over both the choice of candidate and whether urgency is required. Political observer Hussein Arab said Saturday that a nominee could be selected within “hours,” describing the expected figure as a “compromise candidate” who may not be among the prominent names discussed over the past five months.

Some leaders have downplayed the breach. Supreme Council head Hammam Hamoudi said the delay “is not an Iraqi flaw or a personal battle,” citing ‘examples’ from Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands and saying the framework’s approach rests on three conditions: guidance from the religious authority, national acceptance and safeguarding Iraq’s international interests. Abbas al-Moussawi, an adviser to State of Law Coalition leader Nouri al-Maliki, said exceeding the deadline “does not result in any legal consequence affecting the legitimacy of the political process or the validity of assigning a prime minister afterward.”

Efforts to justify further delay have included attempts by some political actors to exclude official holidays from the 15-day period, and disagreement over whether the day of the president’s inauguration counts toward the deadline.

Lawmaker Alia Nassif of the Reconstruction and Development Coalition said the framework has “returned to the starting point” after repeated failures, adding that the bloc has again authorized Sudani and Maliki to jointly select a nominee. Hikma leader Ammar al-Hakim said Saturday that the political system is struggling to make decisions and stressed the need to resolve the selection within the remaining constitutional timeframe.

Parliament, showing little expectation that a nominee would be presented before the deadline, postponed its legislative recess by one month two days ago. Speaker Haibat al-Halbousi called on the framework to submit a nominee before the extension was approved.

Maliki remains the framework’s official nominee with no formal withdrawal, while rival factions continue to back Sudani. Basim al-Badri and Ihsan al-Awadi remain under consideration as alternatives. External factors — including regional and international considerations and anticipation of developments in U.S.-Iran negotiations — have also been cited by political figures as contributing to the impasse.