Iraqi PM to file complaint against new president

Nouri al-Maliki says Fouad Massoum committing ‘clear constitutional violation’ for failing to appoint PM by deadline

By Sameer N. Yacoub and Vivian Salama 11 August 2014, 2:32 am

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Then-Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks to the press in Baghdad, Iraq, March 2010. (AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says he will file a legal complaint against the country’s new president for committing “a clear constitutional violation.”

Al-Maliki, who has been under pressure to give up his bid for a third prime ministership, made the announcement in a surprise speech late Sunday night, plunging the government into a political crisis at a time it is battling advances by Islamic State militants.

Al-Maliki, whose bloc won the most seats in April elections, is accusing the new president Fouad Massoum of neglecting to name a prime minister from the country’s largest parliamentary faction by Sunday’s deadline. He says the president has violated the constitution “for the sake of political goals.”

Al-Maliki, speaking on Iraqi TV for the first time since US forces launched airstrikes and humanitarian airdrops in Iraq last week, says the security situation will only worsen, and “bad consequences” will result from Massoum’s actions.