Iraq's Shia divided over new PM nomination Haider al-Ibadi's nomination has created tension in Baghdad, as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said he won't step aside.

Baghdad, Iraq - The decision to nominate Haider al-Ibadi to replace Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has left the country's Shia parties sharply divided, and dramatically raised tension levels here in the capital. President Fouad Masoum issued a decree on Monday asking Ibadi, a prominent member of Maliki's Daawa Party and deputy speaker of the Iraqi parliament, backed by 127 Shia lawmakers, to take Maliki’s job. Check out our complete coverage of the crisis in Iraq "That is what we were waiting for and what we pushed to do," said Ibraheem Bahar al-Uloum, a Shia lawmaker from the National Alliance (NA), after nominating Ibadi. "We made our decision, and getting 127 votes to back our candidate within the NA is very good," said al-Uloum. Under Iraq’s constitution, the biggest bloc in parliament has the right to form the government. Maliki, who headed the State of Law Coalition, which has held 94 seats following elections held in May, said his coalition has the most MPs. His Shia rivals, however, said the National Alliance (NA), which consists of several large Shia parties, is the largest bloc with 170 seats. Ibrahim al-Jaafari, the head of the NA, presented a document to the president on Monday nominating the bloc’s candidate to the top post. It was signed by al-Ibadi, and Hussein al-Shahristani, Maliki's deputy for oil and power, backing claims that NA is the biggest bloc. What happened [Ibadi's nomination] was a constitutional violation and conspiracy and a dangerous precedent. - Aboud al-Essawi, State of Law party member and Maliki adviser The document said Ibadi heads the Daawa bloc within the State of Law Coalition, totalling 38 seats out of 94, while Shahristani heads a bloc of 14 independent MPs. Al-Ibadi has 30 days starting from Monday to form his cabinet.