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Iraq: INA Leader Says Abdul-Mahdi Only Candidate for Prime Minister | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
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Baghdad, Asharq Al-Awsat- A leading figure in the Iraqi National Alliance [INA], which is led by Islamic Supreme Council Chairman [IISC] Ammar al-Hakim, has asserted that the “chances of nominating Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the former Iraqi Prime Minister, to form the next government have become remote and the INA has only one candidate to head that government.”

The leading figure, who preferred to remain unnamed, told Asharq Al-Awsat that “the chance of presenting Dr. Adil Abdul-Mahdi, a leading IISC member and the vice president, as the single INA candidate is now certain after the National Alliance parties agreed to present a candidate acceptable to all the parties who maintains balanced relations with all”, pointing out that “the official announcement of Abdul-Mahdi’s candidacy will be made soon.”

He went on to note that “installation of Al-Jaafari as the chairman of the National Alliance of Nuri al-Maliki’s State of Law Coalition [SLC] and the INA was the best solution for removing him (Al-Jaafari) from being the candidate to form the government since the posts of chairing the alliance in the House of Representatives cannot be combined with that of prime minister.” He added that Al-Jaafari, leader of the National Reform Trend which is a member of the INA, “does not have good relations with several parliamentary blocs, among them (Al-Iraqiya) which is led by Iyad Allawi, the SLC, and the Kurdish Alliance, and this would complicate the dialogue process with these parties to accept him as the next government’s prime minister.”