The Coordination Framework (CF) of Iran-backed groups and militias gathered July 21, the latest in a series of meetings to discuss forming a new Iraqi government following the withdrawal of the Sadrists.

The CF established a committee July 19 meeting for nominating the prime minister. The committee consists of Hikmah Movement’s Ammar Hakim, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq’s Qais Khazali, Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq’s Humam Hamoudi and Islamic Virtue Party’s Abdussadeh al-Furaiji.

The committee had presented seven names based on the following criteria: the candidate should be independent, he should be elected among the second generation of post-2003 politicians, he should have a good relationship with the Sadrists, and he should be accepted internally, regionally and internationally.

Following last October's elections, the Sadrists won the largest bloc in the parliament with 74 seats. They had formed an alliance with the Sunni Taqaddum coalition, led by the parliament speaker Muhammad Halbousi, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party led by Masoud Barzani. However, the alliance failed to form the government due to the lack of the two-thirds majority required for electing the president. The CF formed a blocking third in the parliament against the Sadr-Halbousi-Barzani alliance.