BAGHDAD: Iraq’s caretaker premier Nuri Al-Maliki said Wednesday it will take a court ruling for him to leave power, defying the president’s decision to task a rival with forming a government.

“I confirm that the government will continue and there will not be a replacement for it without a decision from the federal court,” Al-Maliki said in his televised weekly address.

The two-term premier has accused President Fuad Masum of violating the constitution by approving the nomination of Haidar Al-Abadi, a member of his Dawa party, to form a government, and vowed he would sue.

He also said Al-Abadi's nomination “had no value.”

In a televised speech, Al-Maliki said everyone should accept a federal court ruling on an objection he filed against Abadi’s appointment.

But the prospects of Al-Maliki — who told AFP in 2011 that he would not seek a third term — succeeding in his quest to cling to office appear dim.

Whatever ruling the court might deliver, analysts say Al-Maliki has lost too much support to stay in power.

And international backing has meanwhile poured in for Abadi, including from both Washington and Tehran, the two main foreign power-brokers in Iraq.

The political transition comes at a time of crisis for Iraq.

After seizing the main northern city of Mosul in June and sweeping through much of the Sunni heartland, jihadist-led militants bristling with US-made military equipment they captured from retreating Iraqi troops launched another onslaught this month.