BAGHDAD, Iraq
Iraq’s Sunni Parliamentary Speaker Usama al-Nujayfi has said he would make a "self-sacrifice" by not seeking another term in his post, if Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki also agrees to rule out a third term in office.
Iraq held parliamentary elections at the end of April, but has yet to form a government. The elections were won by Maliki’s coalition with 92 seats but it fell short of an overall majority meaning Iraq will be governed by a coalition government.
"I will not be a candidate for parliamentary speaker for the benefit of the people. If we target change, we should make some self-sacrifices," said Nujayfi, the head of largest Sunni Arab bloc who told a press conference in Baghdad on Thursday.
"We discussed with the Kurdistan Democratic Party and others about changing the politics that brought Iraq to the brink of division and … changing the prime minister as a first step."
According to an unwritten agreement between Iraqi groups, the president is elected from among Kurds, the prime minister from Shi’a Muslims and the parliamentary speaker from among Sunni Muslims.
Iraqi security forces have been unable to turn back Sunni militants led by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant – ISIL – as they advanced since June 10 from the north and west of the country towards the capital Baghdad.
Kurdish Peshmerga forces took the oil-rich city of Kirkuk, a disputed territory between Kurdish administration and the federal government, on June 12 after Iraqi security forces withdrew as Sunni rebels led by ISIL drew close to the city.
www.aa.com.tr/en
