Coordination Framework Announces Sudani’s Candidacy for Iraqi Premiership

 A previous session of the Iraqi Parliament (EPA)
A previous session of the Iraqi Parliament (EPA)
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Coordination Framework Announces Sudani’s Candidacy for Iraqi Premiership

 A previous session of the Iraqi Parliament (EPA)
A previous session of the Iraqi Parliament (EPA)

Hours after Iraqi National Security Advisor Qasim al-Araji declined his nomination as Iraq’s next prime minister by the Shiite Coordination Framework on Sunday, the pro-Iran bloc announced Mohammed Shia' al-Sudani, Iraq’s former minister of labor and social affairs, as their candidate for the position.

Sudani, aged 52, is currently the leader of the al-Foraten Movement and has the allegiance of several lawmakers in Parliament. Previously, Sudani was a prominent leader in the Islamic Dawa Party which is affiliated with the State of Law Coalition.

While Sudani has held different ministerial portfolios in the previous government, this is the third time he is elected as a member of parliament. He ran independently in the last round of parliamentary elections in 2021.

Sudani’s nomination came as a result of the outcomes of a Monday meeting that took place in the residence of Al-Fateh Alliance chief Hadi Al-Amiri, who had pressured al-Araji into declining his nomination.

The announcement comes as Iraq is approaching the 10-months mark following the early parliamentary elections of October 2021, with the country yet to form its next government due to the continued disputes between the political blocs in the Iraqi parliament.

Attention is now turning to the Al-Hanana neighborhood in the city of Najaf, where the leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr is based. Iraq is waiting to see whether Sadr will green light Sudani’s candidacy or not.

Although Sudani is one of 10 candidates whose names were circulated during the last period, the forces of the Coordination Framework were divided between supporters of what was termed the first line of leaders and those who opposed them.

The first line of leaders up for nomination had included Nouri al-Maliki, Hadi Al-Amiri, Haider al-Abadi and Falih Al-Fayyadh.

Although Al-Amiri officially announced his withdrawal from running for the position, Al-Maliki wrote a tweet in which he said that he would not stand in the way of any decision taken by the Coordination Framework.

As for al-Abadi and Al-Fayyadh, they did not announce their candidacy for the position, but their names were suggested as compromise candidates, especially after the conflict between al-Maliki and al-Amiri became clear.

Sadr's position on Sudani is expected to crystallize in the coming days or perhaps hours.

While it is not possible to predict what position Sadr might take, his decision will likely depend on the extent of his conviction that al-Maliki had no role in choosing Sudani, who had previously belonged to the State of Law Coalition.

If Sadr accepts Sudani, the procedures for forming the next government will proceed smoothly if the Kurds decide their position on choosing their candidate for the presidency.

But if Sadr had a negative stance on Sudani’s nomination, the next stage would be open to unexpected surprises, the least of which would be the continuation of the current government and preparations for new elections.



Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
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Women and Children Scavenge for Food in Gaza, UN Official Says

 Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)
Palestinians walk on a destroyed street after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Nuseirat, following a ground operation amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, November 29, 2024. (Reuters)

Large groups of women and children are scavenging for food among mounds of trash in parts of the Gaza Strip, a UN official said on Friday following a visit to the Palestinian enclave.

Ajith Sunghay, head of the UN Human Rights office for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, expressed concern about the levels of hunger, even in areas of central Gaza where aid agencies have teams on the ground.

"I was particularly alarmed by the prevalence of hunger," Sunghay told a Geneva press briefing via video link from Jordan. "Acquiring basic necessities has become a daily, dreadful struggle for survival."

Sunghay said the UN had been unable to take any aid to northern Gaza, where he said an estimated 70,000 people remain following "repeated impediments or rejections of humanitarian convoys by the Israeli authorities".

Sunghay visited camps for people recently displaced from parts of northern Gaza. They were living in horrendous conditions with severe food shortages and poor sanitation, he said.

"It is so obvious that massive humanitarian aid needs to come in – and it is not. It is so important the Israeli authorities make this happen," he said. He did not specify the last time UN agencies had sent aid to northern Gaza.

US WARNING

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin set out steps last month for Israel to carry out in 30 days to address the situation in Gaza, warning that failure to do so may have consequences on US military aid to Israel.

The State Department said on Nov. 12 that President Joe Biden's administration had concluded that Israel was not currently impeding assistance to Gaza and therefore was not violating US law.

The Israeli army, which began its offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip after the group's attack on southern Israeli communities in October 2023, said its operating in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 were trying to prevent militants regrouping and waging attacks from those areas.

Israel's government body that oversees aid, Cogat, says it facilitates the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, and accuses UN agencies of not distributing it efficiently.

Looting has also depleted aid supplies within the Gaza Strip, with nearly 100 food aid trucks raided on Nov. 16.

"The women I met had all either lost family members, were separated from their families, had relatives buried under rubble, or were themselves injured or sick," Sunghay said of his stay in the Gaza Strip.

"Breaking down in front of me, they desperately pleaded for a ceasefire."