Iraq’s prime minister-designate, Mohammad Allawi, issued a statement in which he asserted that “I tried by all possible means to save Iraq from drifting to the unknown and to solve the current crisis, but during negotiations I faced many matters”, and pulled out of consideration for the premiership. The following day, Adel Abdul-Mahdi announced that he would quit his major duties as caretaker, while warning that “the most dangerous thing that we currently face is the prospect of a constitutional and administrative vacuum”.