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Agence France-Presse

Iraq’s prime minister-designate Mohammad Allawi bowed out Sunday from the task of forming a government, as two rockets crashed near the US embassy in the capital’s Green Zone.
Allawi’s departure prolongs a political vacuum and plunges Iraq deeper into political uncertainty, leaving President Barham Saleh with 15 days to propose a new candidate, whom he can name unilaterally without consulting parliament.
Responding to Allawi’s statement, Saleh said he has started consultations to name a replacement within the constitutional time frame.
Iraq has been in legal limbo since outgoing premier Adel Abdel Mahdi stepped down in December, as the constitution makes no provisions for such a resignation.
Iraqi president names Mohammad Allawi as new PM, dividing protesters
Allawi’s latest move also marks the first time a premier-designate has backed out of forming a government, which means that constitutional deadlines and legal procedures moving forward remain largely unclear.
In a letter to Saleh, Allawi said he took his decision because “some political factions were not serious about reform or fulfilling their pledges to the people”.

He said the repeated failure of lawmakers to convene a session to approve his cabinet was a clear sign that some were trying to obstruct his attempts to form a line-up of independents.
Iraq’s bitterly divided parliament had failed three times to convene a confidence vote, with the latest attempt taking place only hours before Allawi’s latest announcement.
Only 108 lawmakers of a total of 329 attended the session on Sunday. The vote had already been delayed twice last week.
Iraq is ranked 16th from the bottom in Transparency International’s 2019 Corruption Perceptions Index.
Iraq using ‘skull-piercing’ tear gas grenades to kill rather than disperse
Even as a months-old protest movement rallies against rampant corruption, ministries are being bought and sold by political parties who have turned them into honeypots, according to political sources.
Anti-government demonstrators who have remained mobilised since October have rejected the choice of Allawi for premier, saying he is too close to the elite against which they have protesting.
They have backed instead Alaa al-Rikaby, a pharmacist who has emerged as a prominent activist in the protest hotspot of Nasiriyah south of the capital.

Iraq’s president, however, intends to propose intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kazimi as premier, according to political sources.
Populist cleric Moqtada Sadr, regarded as a backer of the protest movement before he rescinded his support last month, hailed Allaw’s decision as one taken “for the love of Iraq”.
He condemned other “corrupt” politicians for “holding the country hostage.”
Allawi’s successor will inherit the daunting task of reconciling the government with an angry street following months of protests which have left nearly 550 dead and 30,000 injured, mostly protesters.
In another challenge, the successor must also bridge major rifts between rival factions over ties with the United States and Iran, Iraq’s two main foreign protagonists.
Parties representing the Shiite majority have cast a non-binding vote in parliament for the immediate departure of the 5,200 US troops stationed in Iraq, over objections from the Sunni and Kurdish lawmakers.
Amid the latest political twist, two rockets landed in Baghdad’s Green Zone, where the US embassy and American troops are based, said the Iraqi military.
The rockets landed near the US embassy, said a security source, in the 20th attack against US assets in the country in four months.
None of the multiple attacks since October targeting either the US embassy or American troops stationed across Iraq has been claimed.
But the US has pointed the finger at Iran-backed groups within the Hashed al-Shaabi, a military network officially incorporated into Iraq’s state security forces.
Additional reporting by DPA


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Iraq

Iraq’s PM-designate bows out, rockets hit near US embassy

Iraqi demonstrators with poster of Mohammad Allawi during an anti-government protest in the southern city of Nasiriyah. File photo: AFP

(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 28, 2020, an Iraqi protester shouts at security forces during clashes following anti-government demonstrations in al-Khilani Square off central Baghdad's Sinak bridge which links the Iraqi capital's Green Zone with the rest of the city. - Mocking clerics, falling in love at rallies and mending a broken society: even if Iraq's young protesters have failed to overthrow entrenched politicians, they have scored by shattering decades-old taboos. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 03, 2020, a view of the US embassy across the Tigris river in Iraq's capital Baghdad . - Multiple rockets hit near the US embassy in Iraq's capital early today, an American military source said, the latest in a flurry of attacks against US assets in the country. The assault sent warning sirens blaring across the diplomatic compound but it was unclear exactly what was hit and how many rockets made impact. There were no immediate reports of casualties. (Photo by AHMAD AL-RUBAYE / AFP)

Iraqi president names former communications minister Mohammad Allawi as new prime minister, dividing protesters

President Barham Salih (R) presenting Mohammad Allawi, a former communications minister and lawmaker, with the decree to appoint him as Iraq's new premier. Photo: Handout via AFP

Masked anti-government protester wave the national flag before flaming tyres at a make-shift roadblock in the central Iraqi holy shrine city of Najaf on February 1, 2020. - Iraq's president named former communications minister Mohammad Allawi as the country's new prime minister after an 11th-hour consensus among political blocs, but the streets seemed divided on his nomination. (Photo by Haidar HAMDANI / AFP)

Masked anti-government protester stand before flaming tyres at a make-shift roadblock in the central Iraqi holy shrine city of Najaf on February 1, 2020. - Iraq's president named former communications minister Mohammad Allawi as the country's new prime minister after an 11th-hour consensus among political blocs, but the streets seemed divided on his nomination. (Photo by Haidar HAMDANI / AFP)

Iraq using ‘skull-piercing’ tear gas grenades to kill rather than disperse protesters, Amnesty International says

A man holds used tear gas canisters during an anti-government demonstration in Baghdad on Wednesday. Photo: dpa

Anti-government protesters gather in Tahrir Square during ongoing protests in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Oct. 31, 2019. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

Iraq's President Barham Salih delivers a televised speech to people in Baghdad, Iraq October 31, 2019. The Presidency of the Republic of Iraq Office/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.

Tear gas is fired during clashes between anti-government protesters and Iraqi security forces near Tahrir Square in Baghdad on Thursday. Photo: dpa

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Decision prolongs a political deadlock in the country that has been rocked by pro-reform protests for months
Iraq’s president intends to propose intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kazimi as premier



Departure of prime minister-designate Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi prolongs a political vacuum and plunges Iraq deeper into political uncertainty.


Iraq’s PM-designate bows out, rockets hit near US embassy

Decision prolongs a political deadlock in the country that has been rocked by pro-reform protests for months Iraq’s president intends to propose intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kazimi as premier

Decision prolongs a political deadlock in the country that has been rocked by pro-reform protests for months

Iraq’s president intends to propose intelligence chief Mustafa al-Kazimi as premier