BAGHDAD
Former premier Ayad Allawi and outgoing parliament speaker Usama al-Nujayfi have urged Ali al-Sistani, the country's highest Shiite authority, to intervene to prevent incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki from having a monopoly over power in the Arab country.
"Allawi has sent a message to al-Sistani to ask him to urgently intervene to end Iraq's security and political deterioration," Maysoon Al-Damluji, the spokesperson for Allawi's Wataniya parliamentary bloc, told Anadolu Agency.
She said the former premier had asked the Shiite scholar to personally intervene to prevent al-Maliki from "monopolizing" power in Iraq.
Al-Sisitani's office has confirmed earlier today receiving a message from al-Nujayfi, the leader of the United for Reform parliamentary coalition, about the formation of Iraq's next government and the choice of the new prime minister.
Iraq's three main Shiite coalitions, including al-Maliki's State of the Law, won 161 out of 328 seats in Iraq's parliament in the April's legislative election.
Al-Maliki's State of the Law announced on Friday nominating him for a third term in office.
But several parliamentary blocs, including two partners in the Shiite coalition, oppose the move.
To get a third term in office, al-Maliki needs the support of 165 lawmakers.
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