AL-MALIKI DISCUSSES WITH THE US CHARGÉ D’AFFAIRES THE FORMATION OF THE REMAINING PRESIDENCIES AND THE PATH OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT.
(In other words, Maliki is trying to get the US on his side by his promises, all of which he will never keep later. He has done this before in his first two terms.)
On Friday (January 30, 2026), Nouri al-Maliki, head of the State of Law Coalition, received Joshua Harris, the Chargé d’Affaires at the US Embassy in Iraq, and discussed with him ways to strengthen bilateral relations between the two countries, in addition to discussing the ongoing dialogues between political forces regarding the completion of the formation of the remaining presidencies.
A statement from al-Maliki’s office, received by “Baghdad Today”, stated that the meeting addressed “the vision of the coordination framework for the next government’s path,” and the file of ongoing dialogues between political forces, particularly regarding the selection of the President of the Republic and the Speaker of Parliament, and establishing the features of the government program for the next stage, in line with the requirements of political, security and economic stability in the country.
This meeting comes at a time when the Iraqi political scene is witnessing intense activity between the forces of the Coordination Framework and its allies, and the Kurdish and Sunni forces, to resolve the issue of the presidencies and arrange the balance of power within the parliament and the government, in parallel with increasing talk of direct American pressure in the process of forming the new government.
The meeting also intersects with the positions of political forces, including the Iraqi Communist Party, which warned against “blatant foreign interference” in the government formation process and linked this to the continuation of the quota system approach, which puts influential forces, including the State of Law Coalition, before a test of balancing openness to dialogue with Washington on the one hand, and maintaining the discourse of protecting sovereignty and independent national decision on the other.
