Coalition calls for Al-Maliki to resign

The secular National Coalition led by former premier Iyad Allawi has demanded the resignation of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki, who has completed his term of office. Allawi said that a government of national salvation should be formed. The coalition also rejected any foreign intervention in Iraq and pointed out that it has no personal enmity towards the prime minister.

Speaking to journalists, a coalition spokesman, Hamid Al-Mutlaq, said that the moves should be made to defend Iraq. “All political blocs should be represented in the new government,” he said. “This will overcome the negative aspects of the past and develop quick security and political and economic solutions.” He noted that the National Coalition does not have any problems with Al-Maliki personally, but with his “approach”.

Al-Mutlaq rejected foreign intervention in Iraq and said that the coalition is calling for “collaboration to stop the bleeding”. National unity, he added, is the guarantee for preventing civil war and stopping sectarianism.

In the elections that took place on April 30, the National Coalition won 21 out of 328 seats in the House of Representatives, while the State of Law Coalition, led by the prime minister, took 95.

Fighters belonging to ISIS have now taken control of Rawa, Ennah and Al-Qaem in Al-Anbar in the west of Iraq, leaving only a small number of major cities in the province under the control of government security forces and the tribal fighters supporting them.

Since June 10, Iraqi Sunni forces, led by ISIS, have been controlling the city of Mosul in the Ninoy province in the north of the country, following the withdrawal of the Iraqi army, which left weapons and ammunition behind.