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Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is clinging to power Monday, after lashing out at critics and deploying security forces loyal to him around Baghdad Sunday night. 

The embattled prime minister denounced Iraq’s ethnic Kurdish president on state television late Sunday, accusing him of violating the constitution by not naming a prime minister. Mr. Maliki’s party narrowly won parliamentary elections in April, but the formation of a new government has stalled. 

Shiite militias and security forces personally loyal to Maliki were positioned around the capital Sunday night, according to multiple press reports.

The actions are the clearest signals yet that Maliki has no intention of bending to domestic or international pressure to step down. The US and other foreign powers say a new unity government is crucial for stemming sectarian resentment and combatting the self-declared Islamic State and its allies. 

"The government formation process is critical in terms of sustaining stability and claim in Iraq," US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters on Monday, Reuters reports. "Our hope is that Mr. Maliki will not stir those waters."

Maliki’s speech Sunday came after President Fouad Masoum missed a deadline to appoint a new prime minister, prompting angry accusations from Maliki and concern from US officials. The Wall Street Journal reports:

A senior Iraqi official told The New York Times that Maliki had placed tanks and loyal special forces units in the Green Zone of government buildings:

An official at Iraq’s Ministry of the Interior told the Wall Street Journal that the extra security was in anticipation of a terrorist attack and was not related to politics.

Finding a replacement candidate for Maliki ­– a Shiite who promoted his ethnicity above the country’s Sunnis and Kurds ­­– has proved difficult, Reuters notes:

On Sunday, the deputy speaker of Iraq's parliament Haider al-Abadi, a member of Maliki’s party, said in a tweet that a bloc of Shiite parties was close to choosing a new prime minister. Mr. Abadi’s name has been floated as a possible candidate, but critics accuse him, too, of sectarianism. 

Maliki and his advisers fear they could be arrested or assassinated if they lose their grip on power, º£½Ç´óÉñ’s Baghdad correspondent reported Friday:

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