ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq - A meeting of Iraq’s ruling Shiite Coordination Framework on Saturday ended without reaching an agreement on who should fill the post of the parliament’s first deputy speaker. The faction is set to hold another meeting on Sunday evening to settle the issue.

Negotiations are ongoing between leaders of the Framework on selecting the next deputy speaker among four shortlisted candidates: 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.

The Shiite faction convened at the office of Ammar al-Hakim on Saturday evening, but did not release any public statements regarding the meeting. A well-informed political source told The New Region on Sunday that the meeting did not bear fruit.

“Leaders of the Coordination Framework agreed to hold a decisive meeting this evening [Sunday] at the office of the leader of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri al-Maliki, in order to resolve this file before tomorrow's session,” the source noted, adding that the Shiite parties are also seeking to agree on a unified position on supporting the candidate of the Sunni political forces for Speaker of Parliament ahead of Monday’s parliamentary session.

The National Political Council, an umbrella group of Iraq’s top Sunni parties, is set to convene at the office of Sovereignty Alliance leader Khamis al-Khanjar on Sunday evening to decide on the election of Speaker of Parliament.

The source stated that, at the moment, the Coordination Framework is leaning more toward supporting Muthanna al-Samarrai, leader of the Sunni Azm Alliance, for the speakership.

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.