Interim Iraqi Vice President Ibrahim al-Jaafari has been chosen to be the Shia candidate for prime minister after Dr Ahmad Chalabi withdrew from the contest.
Pressure from within the ranks of the winning United Iraqi Alliance forced the withdrawal of Dr Chalabi, a one-time Pentagon favorite, according to Hussein al-Moussai from the Shia Political Council, an umbrella group for 38 Shia parties.
"They wanted him to withdraw. They didn't want to push the vote to a secret ballot," Mr al-Moussawi said.
The 140 members were to put the decision between Mr Chalabi and Mr al-Jaafari to a secret ballot by the end of the day.
The decision came after three days of round-the-clock talks by senior members of the United Iraqi Alliance, which emerged from the January 30th elections with a 140-seat majority in the 275-member parliament, or National Assembly.