Iraq President submits resignation to ParliamentDecember 26, 2019 - 18:38 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Iraqi President Barham Saleh offered to resign as weeks of deadly anti-government protests show no sign of abating, Bloomberg reports. The president is being torn in opposite directions by politicians who want him to name a prime minister from their ranks and demonstrators who reject any establishment candidate. Adel Abdul-Mahdi stepped down as prime minister last month as protests raged over government corruption, poor services and Iran’s sweeping political influence. Mahdi remains in office until a successor is found. Protesters rejected one nominee, and Saleh rejected the candidacy of a second, Assad Al-Edani of the Al-Binaa political bloc. In a letter to the Iraqi parliament speaker on Thursday, he said the new prime minister must be someone who can unify rather than divide the nation. “Out of an eagerness to spare blood and preserve civil peace, I apologize for not naming Edani prime minister,” the letter continued. “I am ready to submit my resignation to parliament.” About 500 people have died and more than 20,000 have been wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters since Oct. 1, according to the independent Iraqi High Commission for Human Rights. Top stories Authorities said a total of 192 Azerbaijani troops were killed and 511 were wounded during Azerbaijan’s offensive. In 2023, the Azerbaijani government will increase the country’s defense budget by more than 1.1 billion manats ($650 million). The bill, published on Monday, is designed to "eliminate the shortcomings of an unreasonably broad interpretation of the key concept of "compatriot". The earthquake caused a temporary blackout, damaged many buildings and closed a number of rural roads. Partner news | Russia warns Armenia against “falling into West’s trap” Zakharova maintained, however, that anything that will benefit the people of Armenia can only be welcomed. CSTO: Armenia has not participated in secretariat’s work recently Recently Armenia has not participated in the work of the secretariat of the CSTO, Imangali Tasmagambetov said. Meeting with U.S., EU not against third parties, says Armenia The meeting scheduled for April 5 is dedicated to strengthening of the Armenia-EU-US cooperation, Yerevan added. Ucom launches network modernization efforts in few regions of Armenia In particular, on March 28, the legacy Mobile Switching Subsystem will be replaced with a new one. |