Iraq announces early elections

Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, explained that the solution to the crisis in Iraq will either be through political consensus, by going to parliament  to request the majority select a new president and prime minister, or by dissolving parliament and conducting early elections. Maliki  then warned  in an interview with  TV station al-Iraqiya: “There is another option, which is to freeze work on the constitution, due to the non-commitment of our partners to implement it. This option would be devastating.” Asked about the remaining ministries and security institutions under his control, he justified this by saying the constitution had given him unlimited powers in the management of security issues, pointing out that: “he who wants to withdraw these powers, should go ahead and  amend the constitution, as this will be the thing that will hold me accountable if any security failures take place”. The prime minister, refused to limit his appointment period to two terms, saying: “limiting the PM's term is not possible in the parliamentary system,”   he then went on to accuse  the Kurds of expanding into disputed areas in the provinces of Kirkuk and Nineveh, stressing that the border of the Kurdish region is not as it was when the former regime fell on April 3, 2003. Maliki also revealed that Kuridsh Peshmerga forces, have surged in Kirkuk and Mosul, and do not allow the Iraqi army or police to enter. Maliki, said that most of the differences of the state, are differences with the government of the Kurdistan region, clarifying that his government does not have any power, as well as not knowing what comes in or out of the airports and border crossing points. The Iraqi prime minister also added that the matter of smuggling oil in the region, is no longer a myth, but has become a fact.