ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Four candidates are competing for the position of the parliament’s first deputy speaker, as Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework is scheduled to hold a decisive meeting on Saturday evening, an informed source told The New Region.

“Four names are competing within the Shiite political forces for the position of First Deputy Speaker,” the source told The New Region.

The First Deputy Speaker of the Parliament is a role traditionally reserved for the Shiites.

The four candidates are Adnan Fayhan from the Sadiqoun Movement, Ahmed al-Asadi from the Reconstruction and Development Alliance, Kadhim al-Shammari from the Services Alliance, and the position’s last holder Muhsin al-Mandalawi from al-Asas Alliance.

Leaders of the Coordination Framework are set to convene later on Saturday to settle the apportionment of one of the candidates, the source added, noting that “the strongest competition at the moment is between Fayhan and Asadi.”

After the Framework makes a decision, it will then be put to a vote during the first parliamentary session of the new term next, which is scheduled for Monday.

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 Mohammed Shia' al-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.