Iraqi president appoints Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi as new PM
Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi appointed by Iraqi president as new PM of the country. February 1, 2020. Photo: Screengrab/Iraqi media YouTube
BAGHDAD,— Iraqi President Barham Salih appointed on Saturday Mohammed Tawfiq Allawi as new prime minister, State TV reported, ending more than two months of a political deadlock.
Allawi would run the country until early elections can be held. He must form a new government within a month.
Saturday’s announcement comes as Iraqis continue anti-government protests for a fourth consecutive month, and two months after ex-prime minister Adel Abdul Mahdi resigned under pressure from the street.
Mass protests have gripped Iraq since Oct. 1, 2019 with the mostly young protesters demanding the overhaul of a system they see as profoundly corrupt and as keeping most Iraqis in poverty. More than 450 people have been killed.
Allawi must form a new government within a month and would run the country until new elections could be held.
President Barham Salih had told Iraq’s divided parliament that he would name his own candidate unless it nominated someone by February 1.
In a video posted on Twitter on Saturday, 65-year-old Allawi said Saleh had named him and that he would form a new government in line with protesters’ demands.
“I decided the first to do was to speak to you [Iraqi people] directly, before I address anyone else because my authority comes from you,” he said.
“This is your country, this is your right … all we have to do is execute your demands. We have to protect you instead of repressing you,” he added.
In his address, Allawi also pledged to restore the country’s battered economy and fight corruption.
Allawi’s selection was the product of months of private talks between rival parties.
Three Iraqi officials told The Associated Press news agency Allawi’s selection had been agreed by rival Iraqi factions earlier on Saturday.
‘Continue with the protests’
In the pre-recorded video, Allawi called on protesters to continue with their uprising against corruption and said he would quit if the blocs insisted on imposing names of ministers in his government.
“If it wasn’t for your sacrifices and courage there wouldn’t have been any change in the country,” he said addressing anti-government protesters. “I have faith in you and ask you to continue with the protests.”
Allawi was born in Baghdad and served as communications minister first in 2006 and again between 2010-2012. He resigned from the post the second time after a dispute with former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
Parliament is expected to put his candidacy to a vote in its next session, at which point he would have 30 days to formulate a government programme and select a cabinet of ministers.
According to the constitution, a replacement for Abdul-Mahdi should have been identified fifteen days after his resignation in early December. Instead, it has taken rival blocs nearly two months of jockeying to select Allawi as their consensus candidate.
Copyright © 2020, respective author or news agency, Ekurd.net | Reuters | aljazeera.com
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