ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - Iraq’s Shiite Coordination Framework has shortlisted “three to four” candidates for the country’s next prime minister, and agreed on the selection criteria for the position, a member of the ruling body told The New Region on Tuesday.

“The Coordination Framework has agreed on the procedures and characteristics for the Prime Minister position candidate and has no issues on this matter. Currently, there are only three to four candidates for the Prime Minister position,” Abdul Hussein al-Musawi, a senior member of the Coordination Framework told The New Region, following a meeting with a high-level Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) delegation in Baghdad.

Leaders of the Framework, which holds 180 seats in the Iraqi parliament, met on Monday at the office of Humam Hamoudi, head of the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, reviewing previous meetings and continuing negotiations on filling the top posts in Baghdad.

The meeting discussed “ways to expedite the appointment of the Prime Minister along with other electoral requirements, in accordance with constitutional procedures and the needs of the next phase,” according to a statement from the Shiite coalition. The session however, once again failed to name a single candidate for the position.

Musawi added that they are working on completing the selection of the country’s President and government formation, saying he hopes the KDP and its rival the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) will attend the presidential election session with a single joint candidate.

The Framework had initially shortlisted nine candidates for the next prime minister following the November elections, which included current Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani, former premiers Nouri al-Maliki and Haider al-Abadi, National Security Advisor Qassim al-Araji, and intelligence chief Hamid al-Shatri.

Iraq’s new parliament is set to hold its first session on December 29 to select a parliament speaker.

Within 30 days of the first session, the parliament must also elect a president for the country, who is reserved for Kurds, who would in turn name a prime minister-designate, selected by the largest parliamentary bloc, and task them with the formation of the Council of Ministers within fifteen days. The prime minister-designate would need to be replaced by the president if the cabinet fails to be formed in a timely manner.

Baghdad has often failed to honor the constitutional frameworks, as disagreements between rivaling blocs hinder the process, resulting in long delays and, at times, unrest in the country.