On the night of Aug. 14, former Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced that he was backing down from his demand for a third term and that he recognized the political settlement that led to Haider al-Abadi being charged with the formation of a government. With this announcement, Abadi was faced with a number of steps to arrange his government's papers, including the leadership of delicate balances, whether within his Islamic Dawa Party — at the level of the National Alliance that comprises a group of Shiite forces — or at the level of the Iraqi political blocs.
Maliki announced late Thursday night that he was dropping the lawsuit he had filed a few days earlier against President Fouad Massoum, on charges of violating the constitution for assigning Abadi to form a government.