On January 27 US President Donald Trump declared on his Truth Social media platform that Iraq would be making a “disastrous mistake” if Nouri al-Maliki was re-installed as prime minister.  He argued that “last time Maliki was in power, the country descended into poverty and total chaos” and that this “should not be allowed to happen again.”

Trump, typically riding roughshod over accepted practice, was openly seeking to influence the election of Iraq’s future prime minister.  To whom was he offering his advice?

Iraq’s constitution specifies that following parliamentary elections, the parliament – known as the Council of Representatives – elects the president of the republic.  Within 15 days of his election, the president appoints as prime ministerdesignate the candidate nominated by the parliamentary bloc with the largest number of seats.  The prime ministerdesignate then has 30 days to propose a cabinet and present it to parliament.  He becomes prime minister only if parliament grants him and his government a vote of confidence.

Trump was therefore speaking directly to the 329 parliamentarians elected to the Council of Representatives in the poll held on November 11, and especially to the Shia parties which took nearly 200 seats in those elections and form the majority bloc that will nominate the prime minister-designate. 

Since the elections were held in November and the prime minister is not yet in post, the constitutional timetable has clearly slipped.  But the blockage is further up the line.  Parliament has not yet been able to elect a president.  The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan........

© Eurasia Review