Source: Reuters
* Former PM Allawi pulls ahead of Maliki
* Close vote signals long, difficult political talks
(Adds votes cancelled, quote, final paragraphs)
By Khalid al-Ansary
BAGHDAD, March 20 (Reuters) - Secularist Iyad Allawi edged ahead of Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki on Saturday in a neck-and-neck election race that has laid bare the ethnic and sectarian divisions threatening Iraq's fragile stability.
The new results from Iraq's electoral commission, with about 93 percent of an early vote count complete, gave a lead of some 8,000 votes to Allawi, a Shi'ite former prime minister with wide support among minority Sunnis who fear consolidation of the dominance of Shi'ite religious parties in Iraq since 2003.
The lead in the popular vote has changed hands several times and the eventual winner may be able to claim a symbolic victory, but no matter the final result both Maliki and Allawi's will need to engage in long and potentially divisive talks to try to form a coalition capable of forming a government.
As early results trickle in after the March 7 polls, the divided vote is a reminder of Iraq's precarious position on the seventh anniversary of the U.S.-led invasion that ousted Saddam Hussein and plunged Iraq into a bloody civil conflict.
Tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have died since 2003, along with more than 4,000 foreign soldiers.
Iraq may have held one of the most competitive elections in the region's history, but the course of its democracy is far from certain. It is far safer than it was at the peak of sectarian killing, but a tenacious insurgency keeps Iraq under siege just as U.S. troops halve their force by this summer.
A close election may actually exacerbate those threats by making it harder to form a government coalition and accommodate the conflicting visions, and personal political ambitions, of groups as dissimilar as Maliki's mainly Shi'ite State of Law coalition and Allawi's cross-sectarian Iraqiya list.
Maliki, who has won over many Iraqis with his nationalist rhetoric and steps to crush sectarian violence in Iraq, leads in seven provinces in central and southern Iraq, six of them mainly Shi'ite.
The prime minister now has a narrow 6-percent lead over Allawi in Baghdad, the diverse capital city, but he has virtually no support in largely Sunni provinces where many are sceptical of his Shi'ite Islamist roots and condemn his support of a ban of hundreds of candidates, including prominent Sunnis.
Allawi, who has tried to model himself as a non-sectarian outsider, swept western and northern areas home to large numbers of Sunni Arabs. The physician and fluent English speaker holds a narrow lead over a Kurdish bloc in Kirkuk, the disputed city that is Iraq's northern oil hub.
JUMBLE OF POSSIBLE ALLIANCES
Both Maliki and Allawi supporters are predicting they will get more than 90 seats in Iraq's 325-member parliament.
Full early results will be released in the next few days, and final results may take weeks.
Each camp has suggested an alliance between the two men is unlikely, making it even more important where other contenders, the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a Shi'ite bloc closely allied to Iran, and an alliance of two leading Kurdish parties, will throw their weight.
Even before full results are out, fissures are appearing in electoral blocs such as the INA, suggesting the calculus of coalition-building will be even more complex than expected.
Sami al-Askari, a politician close to Maliki, predicted Allawi's alliance would soon splinter. "I don't think this coalition will last long," he said.
Both State of Law and Iraqiya have complained of vote irregularities, and such an outcry could intensify if one bloc feels it was edged out of an outright win.
"Even if fraud was limited, we still feel cheated," said Jamal al-Bateekh, an Iraqiya candidate.
One interesting outcome of this month's vote was the miserable showing some of Iraq's most important leaders, reflecting perhaps Iraqis' exasperation with poor services, rampant corruption, and indiscriminate violence.
Compared to the 543,747 votes Maliki himself got, and 354,097 for Allawi, Interior Minister Jawad Bolani got just 2,992 votes. Defence Minister Abdel Qader Jassim did even worse, with a personal tally of only 687 votes.
Qasim al-Aboudi, spokesman for Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission, said officials had so far examined 1,150 complaints and rejected ballots from about 60 polling stations, out of 50,000 nationwide, for various reasons.
"I don't think this would affect the results or the turnout percentage," he said. (Additional reporting by Muhanad Mohammed and Rania El Gamal; Writing by Missy Ryan; Editing by Jon Hemming)
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Iraq's Maliki asks for recount, warns of violence
21 Mar 2010 09:23:28 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Iraqi PM calls for national manual vote recount
* Head of electoral commission questions need for new count
* Weeks of tough talks ahead to form new government
By Rania El Gamal and Khalid al-Ansary
BAGHDAD, March 21 (Reuters) - Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called for a nationwide recount of votes from Iraq's March 7 parliamentary election, warning the country could return to violence if the demand was not met.
The call came after new results from the electoral commission on Saturday showed secularist challenger Iyad Allawi edging ahead of Maliki's bloc by about 8,000 votes with about 93 percent of the counting complete. [ID:nLDE62J092]
Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, also issued a statement on Sunday asking the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) for a recount in some provinces.
The tight race portends weeks or months of difficult negotiations ahead to form a new government, raising the prospect of a political vacuum that could set back Iraq's fragile security gains.
"There are demands from several political blocs to manually recount the votes and to protect the democratic experience and preserve the credibility of the political process," said Maliki, a Shi'ite who won over many Iraqis with his nationalist rhetoric and steps to crush sectarian violence.
"I call on the High Electoral Commission to respond immediately to the demands of those blocs to preserve the political stability and prevent the security situation from deteriorating and avoid the return of violence," he added in a statement issued late on Saturday.
Iraq's divided vote is a reminder of the country's precarious democracy as it emerges from the shadow of war and years of sectarian slaughter unleashed by the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Violence fell sharply over the past two years but a tenacious insurgency keeps Iraq under siege as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw by 2012.
COMMISSION HEAD QUESTIONS NEED FOR RECOUNT
Faraj al-Haidari, head of the electoral commission, said members would meet on Sunday to discuss Maliki's demand but questioned the need for a recount.
"Why should we respond to do a manual counting? Why? For what reason?" Haidari said. "If there is a glitch, they can file a complaint and say there was a glitch in that station. They say they want a manual count, but this is up to the commissioners' board to decide. We do an accurate electronic count."
The vote counting process has been dogged by allegations of fraud and irregularities.
Supporters of Maliki's State of Law coalition complained of vote fraud last week and asked for a recount in Baghdad after initial results showed their candidate trailing the Iraqiya bloc led by Allawi, a Shi'ite former prime minister with wide support among minority Sunnis.
The IHEC had said the count was fair and included multiple checks against fraud.
Maliki and Allawi have been locked in a neck-and-neck race and the lead in the popular vote has changed hands several times. Seats in the 325-member parliament will be allocated on the basis of each coalition's results in each of the 18 provinces, not by the national vote count.
Maliki leads in seven provinces in central and southern Iraq, six of them mainly Shi'ite.
Allawi, who has tried to model himself as a non-sectarian outsider, swept western and northern areas that are home to large numbers of Sunni Arabs. He also holds a narrow lead over the powerful Kurdish ruling party in Kirkuk, the disputed city that is Iraq's northern oil hub.
Talabani's Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) is one of two groups that have dominated Kurdish politics for decades. The alliance of the two leads in three provinces. (Editing by Noah Barkin)
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Iraq vote results near, Maliki backers urge recount
26 Mar 2010 12:20:49 GMT
Source: Reuters
* Maliki supporters urge recount in Baghdad demonstration
* Final preliminary vote results released 1600 GMT Friday
By Muhanad Mohammed
BAGHDAD, March 26 (Reuters) - Hundreds of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's supporters demanded a manual recount of Iraq's election result on Friday, hours before officials were due to release the final vote tallies.
In the latest in a series of demonstrations that followed Maliki's call for a recount, protesters gathered at Baghdad's provincial government building waving banners that read:
"No, no to fraud" and "Where have our voices gone?"
Iraq's Independent High Electoral Council (IHEC) is to release final preliminary results of the March 7 parliamentary election at 7 p.m. (1600 GMT).
An election official said the top two blocs, Maliki's State of Law and the Iraqiya coalition led by secularist former premier Iyad Allawi, were expected to be one or two seats apart.
The close race has raised tensions in Iraq after an election voters hoped would offer stability after years of sectarian warfare. The tensions foreshadowed potentially divisive talks to form the next government.
Sectarian violence exploded when politicians took more than five months to agree a government after the last parliamentary vote in 2005. Tens of thousands of people were killed.
All of the major parties have alleged irregularities in the election. However, Maliki and his supporters have been most outspoken as the last published results put Allawi's bloc ahead in the national count by about 11,000 votes.
"We condemn the work of IHEC and cases of fraud that have occurred for the benefit of the Iraqiya list," said protester Arkan Shahab, 47.
"The process of fraud that has openly occurred and the abolition of the will of the Iraqi people will have severe consequences for the perpetrators."
Foreign diplomats and analysts have expressed concern about the possibility of renewed violence if the losing parties refuse to accept the results. Violence has dropped dramatically in the last two years but attacks blamed on Sunni insurgents occur daily.
Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, Baghdad's security spokesman, said security forces were not imposing a curfew but would be ready for any signs of trouble as the vote results were released.
"We have a heavy deployment of troops in all areas, checkpoints, to reassure people and address their concerns," he said. (Additional reporting by Khalid al-Ansary, writing by Jim Loney, editing by Janet Lawrence)
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