Summary
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki refused Friday to give up his quest for a third term in power, defying a chorus of critics demanding he step aside as the country faces a Islamist insurgent threat.
Maliki has come under mounting pressure since militants from the Al-Qaeda splinter group ISIS and Iraqi Sunni insurgents swept across the country last month.
Maliki’s statement will complicate the struggle to form a new government to unite the ethnically and religiously divided country.
Accused by his critics of exacerbating the country’s sectarian divisions, Maliki has come under immense pressure to step down from his Sunni and Kurdish political foes, and even from some in his own Shiite camp.
Maliki’s announcement came hours after former parliament Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, a leading Maliki rival, said he would not nominate himself for another term, to make it easier for the Shiite political parties to replace the premier.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2014/Jul-05/262759-i-will-never-give-up-bid-for-leadership-maliki-vows.ashx#ixzz36YIfBzap
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
Categories: Arab World, Asia, Iraq
Well, the Americans forgot to pass on the first lesson of democracy: when to hand over. It would have been appropriate to incorporate in the new constitution that no more than two terms can be served. That is the best of the US constitution (wow, I even praised the US! take note, Anwar Yusufzai).