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Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said that it will take a federal court ruling for him to leave power, defying the president’s decision to task a rival with forming the next government.
In his weekly televised address, Maliki yesterday said the appointment of Haider al-Abadi to replace him as prime minister was a “violation” of the constitution and “had no value. “I confirm that the government will continue and there will not be a replacement for it without a decision from the federal court,” Maliki said.
Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Iraq, said Maliki used his weekly address to justify why he is clinging to power.
“He says he needs to respect the vote of the people, and we have to remember that his party secured the most seats in parliament but not enough to have an outright majority,” she said.
The pronouncement comes as the UN said the world needed to do more for Iraqi civilians fleeing fighters from the Islamic State group.
Al Jazeera’s Jane Arraf, reporting from Bad-git Kandala Camp near the Iraq-Syria border, said members of the minority Yazidi group who had escaped with their lives still did not feel safe.
“They are demanding to be taken out of Iraq, they are saying there is absolutely no chance they can feel safe anywhere any more,” our correspondent said.
“There is not enough of anything. A lot of the aid has come from local people because the government and aid agencies are overwhelmed. It comes from trying to launch an aid effort in the middle of a conflict zone.” — AFP
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