The coalition of Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, which came in second in the national election in March, has claimed that up to 750,000 votes were fraudulently tainted and wants to issue a recount in five provinces.
His State of Law alliance got 89 out of 325 seats, just two less than the cross-sectarian Iraqiya bloc of the former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
“We believe the amount of manipulation in the votes in these five provinces could reach 750,000 votes ... This is a huge number and possibly could change enormously the election results,” the spokesman of the State of Law alliance told the reporters in Baghdad.
The spokesman said they checked ballots from 5 out of 18 provinces including Baghdad, which has the largest share of parliamentary seats. Their investigation allegedly found unsigned ballots and discrepancies in signatures, which they said could have stolen up to 15 seats from the State of Law alliance.
Observers from the United States and United Nations said the March 7 election in Iraq was fair.
As neither of the two leading parties got a majority in the election, they have to seek other partners to establish the new Iraqi government. Maliki’s State of Law held merger talks with the Shi'ite Iraqi National Alliance, which ended up third with 70 seats. The fourth major player is a Kurdistan Alliance with 43 parliamentary seats.
The Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi Qomi said that the Iraq government should incorporate all political blocs, including the Sunni Arabs, the Associated Press reported. His comments implied that the Iran recognized the election results were too close to sideline any large political bloc.
Iran and Iraq both have a majority Shi’ite population. During Saddam Hussein’s rule, dominated by Sunnis, the countries fought a war in the 1980s. Around 1 million people were killed or wounded during eight years of fighting.
In the past two weeks, Baghdad saw an upsurge of violence with more than 100 casualties.
American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the United States plans to stick with the withdrawal plan from Iraq despite the recent violence. Levels of U.S. troops should be reduced from 90,000 to 50,000 by the end of August, while the complete withdrawal of all outside military personnel is scheduled for the end of 2011.
His State of Law alliance got 89 out of 325 seats, just two less than the cross-sectarian Iraqiya bloc of the former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi.
“We believe the amount of manipulation in the votes in these five provinces could reach 750,000 votes ... This is a huge number and possibly could change enormously the election results,” the spokesman of the State of Law alliance told the reporters in Baghdad.
The spokesman said they checked ballots from 5 out of 18 provinces including Baghdad, which has the largest share of parliamentary seats. Their investigation allegedly found unsigned ballots and discrepancies in signatures, which they said could have stolen up to 15 seats from the State of Law alliance.
Observers from the United States and United Nations said the March 7 election in Iraq was fair.
As neither of the two leading parties got a majority in the election, they have to seek other partners to establish the new Iraqi government. Maliki’s State of Law held merger talks with the Shi'ite Iraqi National Alliance, which ended up third with 70 seats. The fourth major player is a Kurdistan Alliance with 43 parliamentary seats.
The Iranian ambassador to Baghdad, Hassan Kazemi Qomi said that the Iraq government should incorporate all political blocs, including the Sunni Arabs, the Associated Press reported. His comments implied that the Iran recognized the election results were too close to sideline any large political bloc.
Iran and Iraq both have a majority Shi’ite population. During Saddam Hussein’s rule, dominated by Sunnis, the countries fought a war in the 1980s. Around 1 million people were killed or wounded during eight years of fighting.
In the past two weeks, Baghdad saw an upsurge of violence with more than 100 casualties.
American Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said that the United States plans to stick with the withdrawal plan from Iraq despite the recent violence. Levels of U.S. troops should be reduced from 90,000 to 50,000 by the end of August, while the complete withdrawal of all outside military personnel is scheduled for the end of 2011.
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