PM's bloc upbeat on Iraq results
Source: Agencies |
March 13, 2010, Saturday
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THE Iraqi prime minister's bloc said yesterday it has started laying the groundwork to form a coalition government, signaling growing confidence after preliminary election results showed it winning in at least two southern provinces.
The outcome from last week's parliamentary vote was far from certain, with election officials still counting ballots nearly a week after Iraqis went to the polls. Partial tallies so far have only been released from six of Iraq's 18 provinces, excluding Baghdad, and the picture was further muddied yesterday when results from one province showed a Shiite religious coalition leading.
Nuri al-Maliki's rivals also hammered home on their allegations of fraud, which could mar the process that will determine who should lead the country as US forces prepare to return home.
According to early results released on Thursday, the State of Law coalition led by al-Maliki had the lead in two mainly Shiite provinces while his secular challenger, Ayad Allawi, was ahead in two provinces north of Baghdad.
The results released yesterday from Maysan Province, which borders Iran, showed the Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition made up of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, with a lead over al-Maliki. With only about 23 percent of the votes counted, INA was ahead with almost 30,000 votes to 23,000 for al-Maliki's alliance.
However, Iraqi officials who have seen results from across the country said al-Maliki's coalition appeared to have a narrow edge, though not an outright majority. Even the head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, Ammar al-Hakim, has said that al-Maliki's coalition appears to be winning -- the first public statement by such a high-ranking official.
Abbas al-Bayati, a member of al-Maliki's coalition, said yesterday the alliance already had created a committee to open talks with other blocs and expected that the group would need about two or three other coalitions to form a government.
But al-Maliki's foes continued to raise allegations of fraud in the historic vote.
Rend al-Rahim, a candidate with Allawi's Iraqiya coalition, said yesterday that the group had filed 32 complaints with election officials as of Thursday night.
The outcome from last week's parliamentary vote was far from certain, with election officials still counting ballots nearly a week after Iraqis went to the polls. Partial tallies so far have only been released from six of Iraq's 18 provinces, excluding Baghdad, and the picture was further muddied yesterday when results from one province showed a Shiite religious coalition leading.
Nuri al-Maliki's rivals also hammered home on their allegations of fraud, which could mar the process that will determine who should lead the country as US forces prepare to return home.
According to early results released on Thursday, the State of Law coalition led by al-Maliki had the lead in two mainly Shiite provinces while his secular challenger, Ayad Allawi, was ahead in two provinces north of Baghdad.
The results released yesterday from Maysan Province, which borders Iran, showed the Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition made up of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, with a lead over al-Maliki. With only about 23 percent of the votes counted, INA was ahead with almost 30,000 votes to 23,000 for al-Maliki's alliance.
However, Iraqi officials who have seen results from across the country said al-Maliki's coalition appeared to have a narrow edge, though not an outright majority. Even the head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, Ammar al-Hakim, has said that al-Maliki's coalition appears to be winning -- the first public statement by such a high-ranking official.
Abbas al-Bayati, a member of al-Maliki's coalition, said yesterday the alliance already had created a committee to open talks with other blocs and expected that the group would need about two or three other coalitions to form a government.
But al-Maliki's foes continued to raise allegations of fraud in the historic vote.
Rend al-Rahim, a candidate with Allawi's Iraqiya coalition, said yesterday that the group had filed 32 complaints with election officials as of Thursday night.
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