The Iraqi Coordination Framework bloc, which brings together different Shia political parties and forces, confirmed on 12 February that the next two days will be decisive for the positions of the political forces in forming the largest bloc and the new Iraqi government.

The Coordination Framework spokesman, Ali al-Fatlawi, told the Iraqi online daily Shafaq News Agency that “the next two days … will reveal who will be in the opposition and who will be in the government.”

Al-Fatlawi explained that “discussions will start in the coming hours, and these discussions and negotiations will decide the positions of the political forces,” adding that “the results of the discussion will be the decisive factor in political forces joining the opposition or being part of the new government.”

According to Al-Akhbar, Muqtada al-Sadr, the leader of the Sadrist movement, which is the largest parliamentary bloc in the Iraqi parliament, seeks to form a national majority government by excluding some of the groups he disagrees with.

This includes the State of Law Coalition led by former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. Al-Akhbar also added that, despite this, the Shia forces affiliated with the Coordination Framework insist on forming a consensual government in which all factions have representation.

On 5 February, the Sadrist bloc, which won the October elections last year, suspended all negotiations for Iraqi government formation and called for a boycott of the parliamentary session to elect a president.

Later, on 9 February, Iraq’s Coordination Framework proposed an initiative to break the political impasse the country is facing, announcing that it would give consideration “to the political forces constituting the largest parliamentary bloc,” in reference to the Sadrist bloc.