Until and unless we could disband these militias, this country won’t be able to function properly.

The political parties and groups that did not take part in the election should be invited to participate in the writing of the permanent constitution.

Anybody who has a militia now has power. The Mahdi Army, Badr, the insurgents, these are the ones who wield power. They have weapons, they can move around and they are determined. It’s not a...

I believe if we give ourselves this time, we will be able to succeed in forming a national unity government which people have been waiting for.

Many people in Iraq, that segment of Iraqi opinion, believes that there should be a determined effort to see whether in fact that elections are feasible,

If we give ourselves this amount of time, we might succeed, and I am sure that we will succeed to form a government of national unity, which the people have been waiting for, for so...

If the security forces continue to be dominated as they are now by political groups or sects, then the people won’t trust in them – and the result will be civil war or fragmentation of...

There were some elements in the Iraqi political class who were against me.

The United Nations presents to us recommendations, not decisions, and we are to decide if we accept these recommendations or not,

I spoke to the heads of all the political blocs and I sensed a true intent from all to push the political process forward. From now until the 17th of this month, we believe there...

They want to inject religion into everything, which is not right. I cannot imagine that we might have a theocratic regime in Iraq like the one in Iran. That would be a disaster.

We only had Kalashnikov rifles. Now we have more powerful weapons.

This polarization has to end. Otherwise it could lead to disaster for the country.

[On April 14], the political blocs started to discuss candidates for the posts and formed a committee to discuss the details of the distribution of the posts. The committee met yesterday [April 15] and it...