DUBAI, August 12 (RIA Novosti) – Iraq’s disgruntled Prime Minister Nouri Maliki has lambasted the United States for supporting the nomination of Haider Abadi as Prime Minister designate, which he described as a breach of the country’s constitution.
At a press conference earlier, the outgoing prime minister accused Iraqi President Fuad Masum of violating the constitution by failing to name a prime minister within 15 days.
“The United States has sided with the one who has violated the constitution,” Maliki said in a post on his Facebook page.
On Monday, Iraq’s President Fuad Masum asked Abadi, the deputy speaker of the parliament, to set up a new government, despite opposition from Iraqi leader Nouri Maliki.
Researchers from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) have described the upcoming days as “decisive” for the formation or demise of Iraq’s government, saying Maliki was not likely to “relinquish power peacefully.”
The Iraq Team at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has described the upcoming days: "The timetable for appointing a new prime minister in Iraq has expired for Iraq’s President Fuad Masum, and Nouri al Maliki has maneuvered elite military units in Baghdad to protect his position by force", what made the Iraq Team at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) to conclude that August 11 will be a crucial day in the future of Iraq’s government.
“Maliki is currently pursuing the most dangerous course of action for Iraq in light of the possibility of peaceful succession by a new Prime Minister, Haider al-Abadi. Despite the extreme nature of this outcome, it is not likely that Maliki will relinquish power peacefully,” Jennifer Cafarella, Jessica Lewis, and Isabel Nassief said in a press release, adding the future of Iraqi security solutions to the ISIS threat was also at stake.
Maliki’s leadership has been challenged both internally and from international observers. When President Masum was appointed on July 24, he had an initial 15 day period to go through the political process of appointing a Prime Minister.
The process was jeopardized by Maliki’s decision to seek a third term and reports that his Dawa party refused to cooperate in the formation of a new government. An extension for negotiations was implemented and expired on August 10.
According to the ISW Iraq Team, Maliki “maneuvered elite military units in Baghdad overnight on Sunday, cutting off entrances to the protected Green Zone, in an effort to secure power by use of force. This is currently serving as a demonstration of force.”
ISW readings on the ground in Iraq report that the show of force and government-sponsored, pro-Maliki demonstrations are not being considered a coup, but could “initiate heavy intra-Shia clashes and create chaos in the capital.”
“If a chaos engulfs the capitol due to intra-Shia violence,” warned ISW, “ISIS will likely capitalize on the softened defenses that will likely be a result of the violence in order to conduct spectacular attacks in the capitol where it could not do so recently due to the heavy deployment of ISF and Iraqi Shia militias in and around Baghdad.”
