Wednesday, August 25th 2010Leader in al-Iraqiya gives Maliki 72-hour ultimatum to form government
Anbar, A prominent leader (?) in the al-Iraqiya parliamentary bloc said on Wednesday, that his list will give the outgoing Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki 72 hours to form the government; otherwise al-Iraqiya will take legal actions against him.
The remarks by Salam al-Zoba’ee come as the country’s political forces have been unable to form a government more than five months after parliamentary elections, plunging the country into a political crisis.
“After prolonged talks, political battles and unjustified delays in forming the government, we give Maliki 72 hours to form the government, otherwise we will take legal measures against him and file lawsuits against all those who have contributed to the delay in forming the Iraqi government,” Zoba’ee, who is also one of Iraq’s two deputy prime ministers, told AKnews.
"We will take the necessary legal procedures against the spies who are working for dangerous foreign agendas that seek to undermine the situation in Iraq and delay the formation of the government. We will demand to hold a parliamentary session.”
Zoba’ee did neither explain whom he meant by “spies” nor which countries he was referring to as having “dangerous” agendas for Iraq.
Iraq's parliament has only held two brief sessions so far and has not met since late last month.
Al-Iraqiya, led by the former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi came first in the March parliamentary elections by securing 91 seats. The State of Law Coalition led by Maliki ended up second with 89 seats.
Each of the two parties claims it has the right to lead the future cabinet.
In late March, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court ruled that the bloc that has the highest number of seats when parliament convenes will be entitled to form a government and not the party that won the highest number of seats in the election.
The court’s decision meant al-Iraqiya was not automatically allowed to form the next government. This decision paved the way for larger coalitions and political maneuvering by the different blocs.
The political deadlock in Iraq comes against a backdrop of rising violence and the withdrawal of U.S. combat forces from the country by the end of this month.
Some Iraqi politicians have warned that security will further deteriorate in the absence of U.S. combat troops.
http://www.aknews.com/en/aknews/4/177021/
