Parliamentarians 'block' Al-Maliki from 3rd term 

(MENAFN - Arab News) Iraq's Parliament passed a law yesterday intended to block Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki from a third term, as the Shiite PM faced growing pressure from Sunni protests.

Lawmakers from Sunni, Kurdish and Shiite parties voted for the law, but the legislation still needs the president's approval and will face challenges in federal court after Al-Maliki's supporters rejected it as illegal. The law, restricting the posts of prime minister, Parliament speaker and president to two four-year terms, was approved as the Shiite premier tried to end weeks of protests by Sunni demonstrators.

"Parliament succeeded today in passing an important law to limit the terms of three posts, including the prime minister's," said Khalid Shwani, head of the legal panel of Parliament. Parliamentary elections are due early in 2014.
Kurdish parties, the Iraqiya bloc and even some rivals in Al-Maliki's own Shiite coalition failed last year to trigger a vote of no confidence against the prime minister.