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Iraqi Shi'ite secular leader Ayad Allawi threatened Wednesday to work on changing the current Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in case that a proposed national conference for political blocs fails to end the persistent political deadlock.
In a press conference in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Allawi, also the head of Sunni-backed parliamentary bloc of Iraqia, stressed that his bloc supports holding a national conference for the Iraqi political blocs if there is goodwill to solve the problems.
However, he warned that if such a meeting fails to end the country's political row, his bloc will work on three options to get out of the political deadlock.
"We will have three options if the national conference would fail to decide an end to the political crisis," Allawi told reporters.
Allawi said that his first option is to form a new government that can prepare for early national elections. The second option is that the National Alliance, including Maliki's State of Law bloc, would name a new prime minister to replace Maliki.
The third one is to form a "real national partnership" government based on the original power-sharing deal that was struck in Iraq's Kurdish northern city of Arbil late in 2010 which led to the formation of Maliki's current government.
Allawi frequently accused Maliki of evading his commitments in implementing the terms of the power-sharing deal.
Observers say that Allawi's Iraqia bloc apparently would not be able to go through any of those options in the Iraqi parliament unless it will work with other blocs after rough political haggling.
However, the Iraqi political leaders are expected to hold a meeting next Sunday to decide the time, place and agenda of the proposed national conference that would be participated by all Iraqi political parties, including Maliki and his political rival Ayad Allawi.
Last month, the political row erupted between Maliki and his political rivals in Iraqia bloc, as Maliki sought to arrest the Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on terror charges.
In addition, Maliki asked the parliament to sack his Sunni deputy Salih al-Mutlak after the latter dubbed Maliki "a dictator" in an interview with CNN, and on another occasion he told his own satellite TV channel of Babiliyah that "Maliki is worse than Saddam Hussein."
The latest development shows the growing struggle to seize more power between Maliki's leading Shi'ite bloc and his political rivals, as the U.S. troops concluded their withdrawal plan few days ago, leaving less than 200 personnel in the country on training mission.
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In a press conference in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, Allawi, also the head of Sunni-backed parliamentary bloc of Iraqia, stressed that his bloc supports holding a national conference for the Iraqi political blocs if there is goodwill to solve the problems.
However, he warned that if such a meeting fails to end the country's political row, his bloc will work on three options to get out of the political deadlock.
"We will have three options if the national conference would fail to decide an end to the political crisis," Allawi told reporters.
Allawi said that his first option is to form a new government that can prepare for early national elections. The second option is that the National Alliance, including Maliki's State of Law bloc, would name a new prime minister to replace Maliki.
The third one is to form a "real national partnership" government based on the original power-sharing deal that was struck in Iraq's Kurdish northern city of Arbil late in 2010 which led to the formation of Maliki's current government.
Allawi frequently accused Maliki of evading his commitments in implementing the terms of the power-sharing deal.
Observers say that Allawi's Iraqia bloc apparently would not be able to go through any of those options in the Iraqi parliament unless it will work with other blocs after rough political haggling.
However, the Iraqi political leaders are expected to hold a meeting next Sunday to decide the time, place and agenda of the proposed national conference that would be participated by all Iraqi political parties, including Maliki and his political rival Ayad Allawi.
Last month, the political row erupted between Maliki and his political rivals in Iraqia bloc, as Maliki sought to arrest the Sunni Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi on terror charges.
In addition, Maliki asked the parliament to sack his Sunni deputy Salih al-Mutlak after the latter dubbed Maliki "a dictator" in an interview with CNN, and on another occasion he told his own satellite TV channel of Babiliyah that "Maliki is worse than Saddam Hussein."
The latest development shows the growing struggle to seize more power between Maliki's leading Shi'ite bloc and his political rivals, as the U.S. troops concluded their withdrawal plan few days ago, leaving less than 200 personnel in the country on training mission.
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