Iran-backed Shiite allies arm-wrestling over the second chair in the parliament, source says

Shafaq News/ Disputes over the position of the Iraqi parliament speaker's first deputy his stirred division inside the Coordination Framework, a source from inside the Shiite forces consortium said on Saturday.

"The leaders of the Coordination Framework will convene in the next few days to ponder criteria for selecting a new premier," the source told Shafaq News Agency.

"The second chair in the parliament has pitted al-Fatah against the State of Law. If al-Fatah wants premiership, it should surrender the first deputy post to the State of law, and vice versa," the source added.

The source hinted the resolution of the dispute will be settled by the scoring system.

"Each lawmaker inside the coalition is considered a point," the source explained.

The allies will try to muster the backing of fellow lawmakers inside the Coordination Framework to make gains in the power-sharing formula that took a U-turn after the withdrawal of the Sadrist movement from the political scene.

However, sources close to al-Hannana, the headquarters of the Sadrist leader Muqtada al-Sadr, said that the powerful Shiite cleric might resort to playing the demonstrations card to hinder a "consensus cabinet" from making it to the helm.