Al-Maliki remains a potent force despite longstanding claims he fuelled sectarianism and failed to stop ISIL expansion.

Iraqi former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is on the verge of a return to power after being nominated as the country’s next premier by an alliance of Shia political blocs that hold a majority in parliament.

The Shia Coordination Framework said on Saturday that it had picked al-Maliki, leader of the Islamic Dawa Party, as its nominee for the post based on his “political and administrative experience and his role in managing the state”.

A central figure in Iraq’s politics, the 75-year-old first became prime minister in 2006, as the country appeared to be unravelling amid a wave of violence unleashed by the United States-led invasion of 2003.

He stepped down after ISIL (ISIS) seized large parts of the country in 2014, but has remained an influential political player, leading the State of Law coalition and maintaining close ties with Iran-backed factions.

The move paves the way for negotiations aimed at forming a new government, which will need to manage powerful armed groups close to Iran, such as Asaib Ahl al-Haq, while facing growing pressure from Washington to dismantle them.

Potent force

Al-Maliki was Iraq’s only two-term premier since the US-led invasion, and had, over the years, managed to appease both Tehran and Washington, becoming a powerbroker whose approval is considered indispensable to any governing coalition.

He remains a potent force in Iraqi politics despite longstanding accusations that he fuelled sectarian strife and failed to stop ISIL from seizing large areas of the country a decade ago.

The politician spent nearly a quarter of a century in exile after campaigning against the governance of former President Saddam Hussein, but returned to Iraq in the wake of the 2003 invasion that toppled the longtime leader.

He became a member of the de-Baathification commission that barred members of Saddam’s Baath party from public office.

The US-authored programme was widely blamed for fuelling the rise of post-invasion rebel groups by purging thousands of experienced civil servants who were disproportionately Sunni.