ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq's ruling Coordination Framework held a meeting earlier in the week without "the three candidates—Nouri al-Maliki, Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, and Haider al-Abadi" in attendance, which resulted in three options for the selection of the country's next prime minister, a source in the Framework told The New Region on Thursday.

"The meeting was held at Hadi al-Amiri's house on Sunday," the senior member said on condition of anonymity, noting that "the meeting was not attended by the three candidates: Nouri al-Maliki, Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, and Haider al-Abadi." He added that the session resulted in three options regarding the selection of the country's next premier.

He added the first option calls for the three leading figures on the nine-candidate list -Sudani, Maliki, and Abadi- “to agree on a name among themselves, and the Framework would go along with their choice.”

Iraq's ruling Shiite Coordination Framework shortlisted nine candidates for the position in the new Iraqi government following the November parliamentary 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.

For the second option, he said it would involve choosing from the remaining six candidates on the list, excluding the first three, while the third option would see the selection of a nominee “from outside the nine shortlisted candidates that were previously proposed," while the third option will see the Framework look outside of the nine shortlisted candidates.

The Coordination Framework, an umbrella bloc of Shiite parties, was formed in 2022, mainly to challenge Muqatada al-Sadr’s attempts at forming a national majority government. The Framework nominated Sudani for prime minister in October 2022, following the withdrawal of Sadr from the political process, and has been the main power-holder in the Iraqi government since.

A member of the ruling body told The New Region on Tuesday that the Framework had shortlisted “three to four” candidates for the position, and agreed on the selection criteria for the prime minister.

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

 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.