Maliki takes State of Law to next election

BAGHDAD, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki announced Thursday his State of Law coalition would unite 40 parties to compete in the January parliamentary elections.

Maliki in a speech at the fortified Green Zone described the coalition as one removed from the "the politics of marginalization, discrimination and tyranny," the BBC reports.

The alliance unites members of Maliki's Dawa Party, independents, socialists and Kurdish slates. Maliki lead a coalition under the State of Law banner to a sweeping victory in the January provincial elections, trouncing many of his Shiite rivals.

The Maliki announcement follows the emergence of the grand unity Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition led by rival Shiite lawmakers in the Shiite Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

The INA includes SIIC members and supporters of radical cleric Moqtada Sadr. Sunni factions from the western province of Anbar are also expected to join the ranks in the new alliance.

The Dawa Party, however, was left out of the new coalition amid lingering disputes between it and SIIC.

The INA is expected to launch its own campaign to unseat Maliki in January. Army Gen. Ray Odierno, the top U.S. military commander in Iraq, said Iraq faces political uncertainty as the country prepares for its next round of elections.