Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has agreed to renounce power, telling the Iraqi people he will give up his post to his replacement, moderate Shi’ite Haider al-Abadi.
Appearing on state television late Thursday flanked by Abadi and other Shi’ite politicians, Maliki said he was withdrawing his candidacy in favor of Abadi in order to “ease the movement of the political process and the formation of the new government.”
Maliki had faced enormous pressure at home and abroad to step aside, dropping his bid for a third term as prime minister of Iraq and ending a legal challenge to Abadi’s nomination by Iraqi President Fouad Massoum, which took place on Monday.
The White House praised the development, saying Maliki’s backing of nominee Abadi marks “another major step forward in uniting the country.” National Security Adviser Susan Rice noted statements of global support for Abadi, a member of Maliki’s Shi’ite Islamist Dawa party.
Maliki had been struggling for weeks to stay on as prime minister amid an attempt by opponents to push him out. They have accused him of monopolizing power and pursuing a narrowly pro-Shi’ite agenda that has alienated Iraq’s Sunni and Kurdish minorities.
The Maliki resignation comes just three days after he took to the airwaves to announce he would not accept the Abadi nomination. Maliki and his backers argued that he was entitled to the nomination for a third term by law because his political bloc is the largest in parliament.
Western governments and Iran, along with Iraq’s Sunni and Kurdish parliamentary factions, have for days urged Maliki to resign.
Source-VOA
