“The Prime Minister handed over his resignation letter formally to the presidency of the parliament,” the source told NRT, referring to the office of Speaker Mohammed al-Halbusi.
Following submitting his letter of resignation to the parliament, Abdul Mahdi called on the Council of Representatives to find an alternative as soon as possible as the country does not bear any vacuum.
“The goal of protesters is to make change in the Constitution and the political system,” in the country, he added.
Earlier, the Council of Ministers held an extraordinary meeting at Abdul Mahdi's request to discuss the events of the past several days, during which scores of protesters have been shot dead by the security forces, the government has appeared to lose the important confidence of Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, and Abdul Mahdi decided to resign.
In a statement, the prime minister affirmed the principle of peaceful transfer of power and that said that a caretaker government would take over and continue to execute the reform plans of the current government.
“I ask of the Council of Representatives to find the proper solution for the situation in Iraq in their next session,” said Abdul Mahdi.
The cabinet also accepted the resignation of key aide Abu Jihad al-Hashemi and the Secretary General of the Council of Ministers Hamid Anzi.
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