Allawi: No one knows Talabani’s whereabouts

08.01.2014 – Hawar Abdulrazaq – BasNews (Erbil): – Former Iraqi Prime Minister and head of Al-Iraqiya bloc Ayad Allawi has said no one in Iraq knows the fate of ill Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.

In an interview with Qatari Newspaper “Al-Watan”, Allawi said that the issue of Talabani has been covered, but no one knows where he is. “This is the first time that a country hasn’t had a president for more than a year,” Allawi noted, urging Iraqi leaders to be transparent in their handling of Talabani’s situation. Allawi says the Iraqi constitution should have elected a new president and believes the fate of Talabani will remain a mystery until the Iraqi Parliamentary elections are done, scheduled to take place on April 30th.

“The President should be present so that the election is legitimate and legal,” Allawi added.  

 According to the Iraqi constitution, after 30 days of absence, the Iraqi Parliament can elect a new President. Since suffering a stroke in December 2012, Talabani has been recovering in a private hospital in Berlin, the capital of Germany. There has been little information or detail about the health of Talabani since he suffered the stroke, however his family maintains that his health is improving each day. Last month a few photos of Talabani were released of him sitting in a chair, the first photos of him to be seen since he fell ill.