Iraq’s Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein said Friday that the nomination of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is strictly an internal Iraqi matter, even as the United States voices strong objections.
Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Hussein said Baghdad does take signals from Washington “seriously.” However, he stressed that the decision to nominate al-Maliki was made inside Iraq and should be viewed as a domestic political issue.
Hussein, who is also the Kurdistan Democratic Party’s nominee for Iraq’s presidency, was responding to growing international attention around al-Maliki’s potential return to power.
The Coordination Framework — a coalition of Shiite political parties that controls more than 185 seats in Iraq’s 329-member parliament — has put forward al-Maliki as its candidate for prime minister. Al-Maliki previously served two terms in office from 2006 to 2014.
Meanwhile, Donald Trump has openly opposed the possibility of al-Maliki returning to leadership. Trump argued that Iraq “descended into poverty and total chaos” during al-Maliki’s time in office and warned that the United States “will no longer help Iraq” if he is chosen again.
Hussein’s remarks underline Baghdad’s position that, while it values its relationship with Washington, the selection of its prime minister remains a sovereign decision.
