Iraqi politicians of Iraqiyya bloc accused on Wednesday Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of trying to “assemble a new dictatorship”.

Iraqi politicians of Iraqiyya bloc accused on Wednesday Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki of trying to “assemble a new dictatorship”.

Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi, Speaker Osama al-Nujaifi, and Rafa al-Essawi published an op-ed in the American daily New York Times, accusing Maliki of using security forces and the judiciary to hound his rivals.
"The prize, for which so many American soldiers believed they were fighting, was a functioning democratic and nonsectarian state," they wrote.

"But Iraq is now moving in the opposite direction -- toward a sectarian autocracy that carries with it the threat of devastating civil war."

Iraq has been locked in a political crisis as the government ordering the arrest of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, who has fled to the country's autonomous Kurdish region.
The Iraqiya leaders said Maliki had "laid siege" to their party, "with the blessing of a politicized judiciary and law enforcement system that have become virtual extensions of his personal office."

They went on to accuse Maliki of violating a power-sharing agreement reached a year ago that allowed for the formation of a national unity government.
The Iraqiya leaders called on the United States to “condition its support” for Maliki on his fulfillment of the power-sharing agreement and his "dissolving the unconstitutional entities through which he now rules."

"We are glad that your brave soldiers have made it home for the holidays and we wish them peace and happiness," they wrote.

"But as Iraq once again teeters on the brink, we respectfully ask America's leaders to understand that unconditional support for Mr. Maliki is pushing Iraq down the path to civil war.
"Unless America acts rapidly to help create a successful unity government, Iraq is doomed."