BAGHDAD — A political crisis unfolding in Iraq intensified Wednesday when Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki demanded that Kurdish officials hand over the country’s Sunni vice president to face terrorism charges and threatened to purge the fragile coalition government of lawmakers who refuse to work with him.
Maliki, a Shiite, also said he would release what he described as incriminating information about government officials unless they work to stop killings and work to rebuild the country, adding that Iraq’s constitution gives him broad authority and latitude to run the country as he sees fit.
Speaking at a news conference broadcast on national television, Maliki said that if leaders in the semiautonomous Kurdistan region do not hand over Vice President Tariq al-Hashemi — who is accused of enlisting personal bodyguards to run a hit squad — “it will stir up problems.”
In a sign of hardening differences, Maliki struck a defiant tone against political opponents who have boycotted parliament and are accusing him of rushing to consolidate power in the wake of U.S. troops’ departure last weekend.
He said he does not want to be weighed down by the opinions of various political factions and insisted that the government has the right to replace ministers who boycott their jobs over differences with him.
At the same time, he said, he would like to make power-sharing work and would seek replacement appointees from rival parties, so long as those rivals share his commitment to rebuild the country.
It is not suitable, Maliki said, to keep talking about “your share and my share,” and “my harmonization here and your harmonization there.”
Hashemi has called the charges against him baseless, saying they were trumped up by Maliki. He fled to Kurdistan several days ago and has said he is willing to stand trial there, but not in Shiite- majority Baghdad.
“The judiciary today in Baghdad is not fair,” Hashemi said in an interview Wednesday on al-Hurra TV. “It is politicized. There is no transparency. It has been put in the pocket of the government.”
Massoud Barzani, president of the Kurdistan region, is calling for an emergency conference to avoid political collapse in Iraq.
The White House, meanwhile, has urged Maliki to preserve Iraq’s “inclusive partnership government” and the rule of law across sectarian lines.
