There's been conflicting reports - but what is clear is that the majority shiite block want Maliki gone - and Maliki is refusing to play ball, and has defiantly deployed loyal troops around Baghdad.
Quote:raq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has resisted growing calls for his resignation and accused the country's new president of violating the constitution, plunging the government into political crisis as it battles the Islamic State group.
Shortly before his defiant speech on Sunday, Maliki deployed security forces and armed groups across the capital Baghdad, the AFP and Reuters news agencies reported.
"There is a huge security presence, police and army, especially around the Green Zone," a highly-protected district that houses Iraq's key institutions, a high-ranking police officer told AFP.
He said the deployment had started at about 10:30pm [1930 GMT], just 90 minutes before the speech.
Despite Maliki's announcement that he intended to run for a third-term as prime minister, a bloc comprising Iraq's biggest Shia parties is close to nominating a new prime minister, Reuters reported, citing the deputy speaker of parliament.
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/08/iraq-pm-defiant-face-resignatio...This is the wonderful Iraqi "democracy" on display: the democratically elected parliament moves to democratically nominate a new PM, and the current PM responds by deploying troops, and threatening violence.
Yet no one who has been following the increasingly authoritarian maneuvering by Maliki, which has resulted in the disaffected arab-sunnis being excluded from the democratic process - could be surprised by this latest stunt.
Watch this space...