“We are not going to hold on to power,” Abadi announced on Thursday night, Iraqi media reported.
“We are committed to constitutional procedures,” he continued, and “we respect the directions of the Marja’a (Shiite Muslims' source of emulation) and we respond positively to them.”
His statement fell short of a clear declaration of resignation, but he appeared to be paving the way for such a move.
Al-Abadi, who took office in Sept. 2014, a few months after the Daesh onslaught in northern and western Iraq, is widely blamed for poor performance regarding public services.