Eidani says his route to premiership blocked for belonging to Chalabi political school

BASRA — Basra Governor Asaad al-Eidani said Tuesday he was repeatedly passed over for prime minister because of his political lineage, tracing his exclusion to his association with the late Ahmed Chalabi, while defending the Popular Mobilization Forces and calling for balanced relations with both Iran and the United States.

“Why has Al-Eidani’s name been proposed from 2019 until today without becoming prime minister? It is because I belong to the school of Ahmed Chalabi,” he said in an interview on Sharqiya TV. “Ahmed Chalabi’s name was proposed many times, but he also never assumed the premiership. It is enough honor that we are sons of the school of Ahmed Chalabi.”

Eidani said he was among four names proposed in the final hours of government formation negotiations, alongside Saleh al-Hasnawi, Hamid al-Shatri and Ali al-Zaidi, who was ultimately chosen. “It is our duty to make this government succeed,” he said.

Ahmed Chalabi was an Iraqi politician and opposition figure best known for lobbying against Saddam Hussein before the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. His name was repeatedly raised as a potential prime minister but he never assumed the post. He died in Baghdad in 2015.

On foreign relations, Eidani rejected subordination to either Washington or Tehran. “Some go toward America and others toward Iran, and this is very wrong,” he said. “We share more than 1,400 kilometers of borders with Iran, but do we accept becoming subordinate? Certainly not. America helped us eliminate the dictatorship, but we cannot become subordinate to it either.” He said Iraq had benefited from both the U.S. strategic agreement and Iranian advisers during the war against Islamic State, and could maintain relations with all sides without becoming beholden to any.

Eidani strongly defended the PMF against calls to disarm or dissolve armed factions. “The armed factions are sons of this country. The PMF and what it carries are part of Iraq’s security system,” he said.