The most influential Shi'ite cleric in Iraq called on the country's leaders on Friday to choose a prime minister within the next four days, a dramatic political intervention that could hasten the end of Nuri al-Maliki's eight year rule, according to The Associated Press.
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, who commands unswerving loyalty from many Shi'ites in Iraq and beyond, said political blocs should agree on the next premier, parliament speaker and president before a newly-elected legislature meets on Tuesday, the AP reported.
Sistani's intervention makes it difficult for Maliki to stay on as caretaker leader as he has since a parliamentary election in April, meaning he must either build a coalition to confirm himself in power for a third term or step aside, according to the AP.
The United States and other countries are pushing for a new, inclusive government to be formed as quickly as possible to counter the insurgency led by an offshoot of al Qaeda, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, the AP reported.
The embattled Maliki accused his political foes of trying to prevent parliament from meeting on time and stirring up violence to interfere with the political process, according to the AP.
"They worked to postpone the elections... and now they are working to postpone the first session of the council of representatives... but if they are not able to pressure us to postpone, they will go for inciting security incidents in Baghdad," Maliki said during a televised meeting with commanders, the AP reported.
Under Iraq's governing system put in place after the fall of Saddam Hussein, the prime minister has always been a Shi'ite, the largely ceremonial president a Kurd and the speaker of parliament a Sunni, according to the AP. Negotiations over the positions have often been drawn out: after the last election in 2010 it took nearly 10 months for Maliki to build a coalition to stay in office.
