The nomination effectively guarantees Maliki, 75, the post that he last held more than a decade ago.
The shrewd politician is set to return to power today amid seismic changes in the Middle East, with Tehran's regional influence waning and tensions with Washington rising.
The Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite factions with varying links to Iran, said in a statement that it "decided, by majority vote, to nominate" Maliki for the position "as the candidate of the largest parliamentary bloc".
The statement spoke of Maliki's "political and administrative experience and his record in running the state".
After Iraq's November general election, the Coordination Framework, which includes Maliki, formed the majority bloc.
Soon after, it held heated talks to choose the next prime minister, along with other discussions with Sunni and Kurdish parties regarding other posts.
Iraq's parliament chose a speaker last month and should convene next to elect a new president, who will then appoint a prime minister to replace the incumbent Mohammed Shia al-Sudani.
By convention in Iraq, a Shiite Muslim holds the powerful post of prime minister, a Sunni is parliament speaker, and the largely ceremonial presidency goes to a Kurd.
Maliki, has long been a central figure in Iraq's politics and its only two-term prime minister (2006-2014) since the US invasion of 2003, which ended decades of rule by the autocratic Sunni president Saddam Hussein.
- Hard task -
Maliki, leader of the State of Law Coalition, has increased his power and influence despite his controversial past, including widespread accusations of stoking sectarian tensions, and failing to stop the Islamic State group in 2014.
He has been involved in forming alliances and his name was regularly put forward as a possible candidate for the premiership.
Seen as close to Iran, Maliki also has a record of coordinating with the US on Iraqi politics, particularly during his previous terms.
In a country that has for decades been a proxy battleground between the US and Iran, Maliki will likely face a daunting task as government formation has always been influenced by the two foes.
He will be expected to address Washington's longstanding demand that Baghdad disarm Tehran-backed factions, many of which are designated terrorist groups by the US.
Iraqi officials and diplomats told AFP last month that Washington had demanded that the eventual government exclude Iran-backed armed groups and instead move to dismantle them.
But most of these groups hold seats in parliament and have seen their political and financial clout increase.
Maliki's comeback: powerbroker set to return as Iraq PM
Baghdad (AFP) Jan 24, 2026 -
Iraq's former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki is on the verge of a return to power despite having been forced out over a decade ago, accused of corruption, sectarianism and with the Islamic State group sweeping the country.
Maliki was nominated on Saturday by the main bloc of Shiite parties in Iraq's parliament, which holds a majority, to become prime minister, effectively guaranteeing him the job.
A central figure in Iraq's politics and its only two-term premier since the US invasion of 2003, the 75-year-old Shiite Arab has over the years managed to appease both Iran and the United States, becoming a powerbroker whose approval is considered indispensable to any governing coalition.
A shrewd politician, Maliki spent nearly a quarter of a century in exile after campaigning against the autocratic rule of Saddam Hussein but returned to Iraq in the wake of the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled the longtime ruler.
Maliki has since steadily increased his power and influence.
Born Nuri Kamal al-Maliki in a predominantly Shiite town south of Baghdad, he joined Islamic Dawa, a Shiite Islamist party opposed to Saddam's rule, while at university.
The dour, bespectacled politician, who has a master's degree in Arabic, fled Iraq in 1979 after the party was banned and its founder Ayatollah Mohammed Baqr al-Sadr executed.
From 1980, he lived in Iran and then Syria, where he edited Dawa's newspaper. In exile, he adopted the nom de guerre Jawad and coordinated cross-border raids from Iran into Iraq.
He returned after the US invasion toppled Saddam and 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 post-invasion insurgency by purging thousands of experienced civil servants who were disproportionately Sunni and had often only joined the party to climb the career ladder.
- Thrust to power -
In 2006, Maliki was named premier, taking office at the height of Iraq's hellish sectarian war that killed thousands of people each month.
He was initially considered politically weak, but Maliki managed to remain in office and, with US military backing, he pursued an offensive against the armed group of powerful Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr in 2008.
The successful assault won him plaudits across Iraq's communities and helped Maliki build a reputation as a nationalist who had brought Iraq's raging violence under some semblance of control.
Under Maliki, US forces withdrew from the country in late 2011 and oil production steadily increased.
Having been re-elected in 2010 at the head of a national unity government, however, Maliki soon faced near-constant political crises, and the security gains of his first term in office were dramatically reversed.
His critics accused him of hoarding power, particularly within the security forces, and blamed him for the sharp deterioration in Iraq's security.
- Kingmaker -
In the years following the US withdrawal, Maliki repeatedly feuded with the Kurds and Sunni Arabs, Iraq's two main minority groups, prompting charges of discrimination and sectarianism.
Critics blamed him for increased corruption and declining services, as well as a security collapse that culminated in the Islamic State group routing the more numerous and better-armed Iraqi security forces in a 2014 offensive that saw the jihadists seize large areas of the country.
Maliki was accused of having appointed military commanders based on personal loyalty rather than competence, while critics said that under his command the Iraqi military had not carried out necessary training.
In 2015, a parliamentary probe found him and others responsible for jihadists overrunning the city of Mosul, which became IS's main bastion in Iraq.
After the jihadists' success and the collapse of the Iraqi army, major domestic discontent and international pressure combined to force him from office.
Maliki never disappeared from the political scene however and, as leader of the State of Law Coalition, he continued to hold considerable influence, helping to form parliamentary alliances and selecting candidates for key positions.
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