BAGHDAD — Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Saturday that he would not seek a third term in office, in a sign that even Iraq’s newly installed and democratically elected government might be feeling the heat from the tumult in the streets of Cairo.
“I have personally decided not to seek another term in office after this one, a decision I made at the beginning of my first term,” al-Maliki said in an interview with Agence France-Presse.
Iraq’s new constitution does not set term limits for the prime minister, but al- Maliki said he would seek a constitutional amendment restricting the number to two.
Al-Maliki began his second four-year term in December after spending 10 months fending off a challenge from the secular leader Ayad Allawi, whose bloc won two more seats in parliament than al-Maliki’s in nationwide elections in March.
His comment coincides with an upsurge of scattered protests across the country demanding better services, jobs and an end to corruption, apparently inspired by the pro-democracy demonstrations underway in Cairo and those that toppled Tunisia’s long-serving president last month.
Police in Najaf broke up an attempted demonstration in support of the Egyptian people Saturday after the governor of Najaf refused to grant permission.
No one is calling for the overthrow of the al-Maliki government, which represents all the major factions chosen by voters in an election judged largely free and fair. The next election isn’t due until 2014.
Al-Maliki’s critics have frequently accused him of dictatorial tendencies, most recently following a court decision he sought granting his office control of several independent agencies, including the election commission and the Central Bank.
