Iraq: Al-Binaa Alliance calls for holding president accountable

On Thursday, the Iraqi Al-Binaa Alliance accused the country’s president, Barham Salih, of “violating the constitution and perjury,” and called on parliament to take legal measures against him in light of the accusations.

Earlier on Thursday, Salih apologised for assigning Al-Binaa candidate and current governor of Basra, Asaad Al-Eidani, to form the new government, and stated that he prefers resignation over appointing a candidate who does not possess the support of the demonstrators.

Al-Binaa Alliance is led by two Shia political personalities known for their close ties to Iran, namely former prime minister and leader of the State of Law Coalition, Nouri Al-Maliki, and leader of the Conquest Alliance, Hadi Al-Amiri.

Al-Binaa Alliance indicated in a statement: “As the largest parliamentary bloc, strong evidence, which we adopted in nominating our candidate to the president of the republic, who has pledged to assign him (Al-Eidani) to form the government.”

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The statement added: “However, we were surprised by the president’s insistence on violating the constitution and not assigning the candidate of the largest parliamentary bloc, on the pretext that Al-Eidani was rejected by some political parties.”

The statement continued: “We reaffirm our full commitment to constitutional contexts, and we categorically reject any justifications or attempts to circumvent the constitution.”

“The party, which is supposed to protect the constitution, attempts to violate constitutional provisions, which means pushing the country into chaos. This situation will only serve the foreign parties, who are plotting against Iraq and the Iraqi people, who strongly reject all kinds of external impositions, de facto policies, arm-twisting or overriding the constitutional bodies.”