Maliki denies stroke rumors, says fake news will increase as elections near
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Iraqi Vice President Nouri al-Maliki has denied rumors that he suffered a stroke this week as he addressed the Iraqi nation via a video message, warning that “fake news” such as this will gain momentum as the elections near.
The rumors which said he was transferred to Iran’s capital of Tehran following the stroke went viral on social media and were carried by some media outlets on Thursday.
He called it “fake news” and that it was unfortunately even reported by some satellite channels he described as “friends.”
“I am telling the citizens that this is one face of the many faces of lies, frauds and distortion and misrepresentation campaigns that will further increase the closer we get to the time of the elections," Maliki said in the video message published on his official Facebook account on Friday. "Even more than that, it will increase every time we make a political or a military achievement.”
Iraq is expected to hold its general elections next spring.
He said the fake reports “hurt” his followers while having made his “enemies” happy.
He did not name any one individual or party, nor did he give details about who could be behind spreading the rumors.
Maliki, two-times former Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014, failed to secure a third term in office, mainly because of Kurdish and Sunni opposition to his rule that was marked by sectarian policy.
During his term, Iraq lost large parts of the country to the ISIS group in the summer of 2014, including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
Maliki said in a Wall Street Journal interview last year that he didn’t seek office again, but that Iraqis needed change, a hint at removing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi after the ISIS operation, despite both being from the same party.
Kurdish officials say that one reason the United States wants the Region to postpone its plans to hold an independence referendum this September is to secure a second term in office for PM Abadi, which would be supported by the Kurdish voters.
The United State also wants Abadi to stay in power as they think this will lessen the Iranian influence in Iraq, Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim told Rudaw on Wednesday.
Masour Barzani, head of Kurdistan’s Security Council, stated in July in Washington that no matter how hard Kurdish voters try, their influence remains little-to-none. In the best scenario, he said, Kurds can get no more than 63 seats out the 300-plus seats of the Iraqi parliament.
PM Abadi played a big role in securing the support of the Kurdistan Region in the fight against ISIS, especially for the Mosul operation where Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a joint military operation against ISIS militants that concluded with the liberation of the city in July.
The rumors which said he was transferred to Iran’s capital of Tehran following the stroke went viral on social media and were carried by some media outlets on Thursday.
He called it “fake news” and that it was unfortunately even reported by some satellite channels he described as “friends.”
“I am telling the citizens that this is one face of the many faces of lies, frauds and distortion and misrepresentation campaigns that will further increase the closer we get to the time of the elections," Maliki said in the video message published on his official Facebook account on Friday. "Even more than that, it will increase every time we make a political or a military achievement.”
Iraq is expected to hold its general elections next spring.
He said the fake reports “hurt” his followers while having made his “enemies” happy.
He did not name any one individual or party, nor did he give details about who could be behind spreading the rumors.
Maliki, two-times former Prime Minister of Iraq from 2006 to 2014, failed to secure a third term in office, mainly because of Kurdish and Sunni opposition to his rule that was marked by sectarian policy.
During his term, Iraq lost large parts of the country to the ISIS group in the summer of 2014, including Mosul, Iraq’s second-largest city.
Maliki said in a Wall Street Journal interview last year that he didn’t seek office again, but that Iraqis needed change, a hint at removing Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi after the ISIS operation, despite both being from the same party.
Kurdish officials say that one reason the United States wants the Region to postpone its plans to hold an independence referendum this September is to secure a second term in office for PM Abadi, which would be supported by the Kurdish voters.
The United State also wants Abadi to stay in power as they think this will lessen the Iranian influence in Iraq, Kirkuk Governor Najmaldin Karim told Rudaw on Wednesday.
Masour Barzani, head of Kurdistan’s Security Council, stated in July in Washington that no matter how hard Kurdish voters try, their influence remains little-to-none. In the best scenario, he said, Kurds can get no more than 63 seats out the 300-plus seats of the Iraqi parliament.
PM Abadi played a big role in securing the support of the Kurdistan Region in the fight against ISIS, especially for the Mosul operation where Iraqi and Kurdish Peshmerga forces launched a joint military operation against ISIS militants that concluded with the liberation of the city in July.