Overview
- Al-Zaidi, tapped by the Coordination Framework on Monday, received a formal mandate from President Nizar Amedi to form a government.
- He has 30 days to present a cabinet that can win 167 votes in parliament, a test that still requires cross-bloc backing despite the Shiite alliance’s dominance.
- The Coordination Framework said Nouri al-Maliki and caretaker premier Mohammed Shia al-Sudani withdrew, a shift that followed President Donald Trump’s public warnings against a Maliki return.
- Zaidi is a political newcomer known for banking and media ventures, and reporting notes his Al-Janoob Islamic Bank was barred in 2024 from dollar trades by Iraq’s central bank.
- Any new cabinet must confront militia power and a cash crunch from disrupted oil exports through the Strait of Hormuz, pressures that could hit salaries and basic services.