Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki says the president's tasking of another politician with forming a new government amounts to a "constitutional violation" and would have worse consequences than the militant takeover of much of the country's north.
He also says he will not relinquish power until a federal court rules on the move, which was aimed at paving the way for new leadership that could reverse the militants' gains.
"This constitutional violation... Will be yield more damage than of the state collapse that took place in Ninevah," al-Maliki said during his weekly address Wednesday, referring to the northern province which includes Iraq's second largest city Mosul.
Al-Maliki has vowed legal action against President Fouad Massoum for carrying out "a coup against the constitution and the political process.
