Iraqi Prime Minister Threatens Legal Action against President

The Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki  is resisting all calls for his resignation and has accused the President of the country of violating the constitution in a speech Sunday night and said he will file a legal complaint.

The Iraqi parliament is getting ready to nominate another prime minister with President Faud Masum's consent  as Maliki failed to meet the deadline on Sunday  for forming a coalition government.

This has put the beleaguered country in turmoil. Iraq is already facing the threat of being over-run by the Islamist State , the militant hardline group.

Al Maliki said the president is obstructing his re-election and has carried out "a coup against the constitution and the political process," reports the Associated Press.

Al Maliki won the most parliament seats in April elections and believes that he has the rightful claim for a third term. He accused Masum of neglecting to name a prime minister by Sunday's deadline. A parliament session called to name a new prime minister has been postponed to Aug. 19.

This move comes amid the United States providing airstrikes and humanitarian aid to Iraq.

The US Secretary of State John Kerry said a stable Iraqi government was a necessity and Prime Minister Al Maliki should not "stoke political tensions,"reports the Guardian. "One thing all Iraqis need to know, that there will be little international support of any kind whatsoever for anything that deviates from the legitimate constitution process that is in place and being worked on now," he said.

In response to Maliki's allegations, US state department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in a statement: "The United States fully supports president Faud Masum in his role as guarantor of the Iraqi constitution.

"We reaffirm our support for a process to select a prime minister who can represent the aspirations of the Iraqi people by building a national consensus and governing in an inclusive manner," she said, reports the Guardian.