Iraqi PM threatens to call early elections

PanARMENIAN.Net - Iraq's prime minister threatened Wednesday, June 27 to call early elections that could tighten his grip on power if the nation's political factions fail to break an impasse that has all but paralyzed the government.

According to AP, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's gambit is the latest in a months-long political crisis in Iraq that has Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds alike calling for his resignation. The impasse also has fueled fears of a possible flare-up in violence by insurgents seeking to take advantage of the chaos. Bombings targeting a Shiite cleric and an anti-al-Qaida militia fighter killed at least 11 people Wednesday in Baghdad.

Al-Maliki, a Shiite, said continued refusals by his political opponents to negotiate a resolution to the crisis would leave him little choice but to call for a new vote.

"When the other party is refusing to sit down at the negotiating table and insists on the policy of creating continued crises ... then the prime minister finds himself obliged to call for early elections in which the Iraqi people will have the final say," al-Maliki said in a statement posted on his official website. He did not mention a date for the vote.

Al-Maliki's threat to hold snap elections comes in response to months of demands for his resignation by Sunni, Kurdish and some Shiite leaders who say he has sidelined them from power. It's unclear whether they have the political will or enough support in parliament to oust al-Maliki in a no-confidence vote.

Al-Maliki's media adviser, Ali al-Moussawi, said the prime minister still hopes to solve the crisis though dialogue.

The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2014. Under Iraq's constitution, a majority of parliament's 325 lawmakers must vote to dissolve the legislature to force new elections.