New Iraqi Prime Minister: Do not allow the country to become an arena for other countries to calculate
Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Allawi, who was appointed on Saturday, made his first speech, declaring that he would not allow the country to become an arena for calculating the division of other countries' assets.
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| New Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Allawi. Photo: Reuters |
"I promise to protect Iraq from any external interference and not to turn the country into an arena for calculating the division of accounts in various conflicts," Allawi said in a press release.
Mr. Allawi served as Iraq's Minister of Communications from 2006 to 2007 and from 2010 to 2012.
Iraqi President Barham Saleh tasked Mr Allawi with forming a government on Saturday. The prime minister candidate has the backing of the largest political blocs in the Iraqi parliament.
In late December, President Barham Saleh sent a letter to parliament, declaring his willingness to resign due to the extremely conflicting situation surrounding the selection of a candidate for the vacant Prime Minister position after Adel Abd al-Mahdi resigned on November 30 and continued mass protests in the country.
In protests since early October 2019, protesters in Iraq have been demanding the resignation of the government, a fight against corruption, unemployment and an improvement in living conditions for residents. According to Iraqi President Barham Saleh, as a result of clashes and riots accompanying the protests, more than 600 people have been killed and about 50,000 injured. These are the largest protests to take place in Iraq since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003.
On December 24, 2019, the Iraqi Parliament voted in favor of a new electoral law that protesters have been demanding for months.
