BAGHDAD – Iraq’s embattled Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is taking his struggle to keep his post to the courts after announcing he will file a legal complaint Monday against the country’s newly elected president.
The deadlock over a new government has plunged Iraq into a political crisis at a time it is fighting a land grab by Islamic State jihadists. The blitz offensive by the al-Qaida breakaway group has become Iraq’s worst crisis since the U.S. troops withdrew from the country in 2011.
Al-Maliki has resisted calls for his resignation, and the political infighting could hamper efforts to stem advances by the Sunni militants who have seized a large swath of northern and western Iraq in recent weeks.
In a televised speech after midnight Sunday, al-Maliki declared he will file a legal complaint against the new president, Fouad Massoum, for committing “a clear constitutional violation.”
The prime minister said the president, who was elected by parliament, is obstructing al-Maliki’s re-election. He said Massoum had carried out “a coup against the constitution and the political process.”
Al-Maliki, whose Shiite-dominated bloc won the most parliament seats in April elections, accused Massoum of neglecting to name a prime minister from the country’s largest parliamentary faction by Sunday’s deadline.
The late-night speech was al-Maliki’s first since U.S. forces launched airstrikes and humanitarian airdrops in Iraq last week. A parliament session scheduled for Monday to discuss the nomination of the new prime minister was postponed until Aug. 19.
Meanwhile, Iraqi special forces loyal to al-Maliki were deployed at Baghdad’s main intersections Monday, police officials said. Two of the capital’s main streets, which are popular locations for pro and anti-government rallies, were partially closed Monday.
The government also enforced a heightened security alert across the city, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to media.
It was not immediately clear when al-Maliki would submit his complaint, presumably in a Baghdad court on Monday.
