Al-Maliki was nominated to be Prime Minister by the largest Shia Muslim bloc in the Iraqi parliament on Saturday. Mohammed Shia al-Sudani, the country’s outgoing Prime Minister, suspended his bid for a second term in office earlier this month, clearing the field for al-Maliki to step into the role. Al-Sudani’s bloc won the largest share of seats in the country’s parliamentary elections last November but fell short of a governing majority. The Coordination Framework, a coalition of Shiite parties with close ties to Iran and which acts as the kingmaker for the premiership, reportedly could not choose between the two candidates and left it to them to decide.