Iraqiya withdraws from government deal

13/11/2010| IslamWeb

Nouri al-Maliki was approved for his second term only yesterday and it seems that his coalition government is already on the verge of collapse following the announcement by Iraqiya leader Ayad Allawi that his bloc will be leaving the coalition.

“We think the concept of power-sharing is dead now,” noted Allawi, in an interview, “it’s finished,” he said. Most of the members of Iraqiya, the largest political bloc in Iraq, had walked out of the first parliament session yesterday after the government refused to reinstate banned members of the party.

Prime Minister Maliki’s confirmation had only been secured through an elaborate but largely secretive power-sharing deal, and many in Iraqiya say that Maliki almost immediately went back on the pledges. Allawi warned tonight that Maliki is “becoming very dictatorial” and that his bloc is refusing to respect even its own coalition partners.

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Ayad Allawi,  the Iraqiya leader

Agencies