Iraq leaders' call for full recount of votes rejected by electoral body

IRAQ’S ELECTORAL commission yesterday rejected a call by the country’s prime minister and president for a full manual recount of the 12 million votes cast in the March 7th general election.

Commission chief Faraj al-Haidari said such a recount would take “too long” and offered to hold “recounts at particular centres, but not across all of Iraq”. The demand, he said, had “cast doubt on the whole electoral process”.

Mr Haidari was responding to a warning by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki that the country could return to violence if the commission, an independent body appointed by parliament, did not conduct a recount. He observed “many political entities are now demanding a recount by hand . . . As I still hold executive power, and as the head of the political process in this country, and as leader of the armed forces, I ask the Independent High Electoral Commission to respond immediately to the demands of these political entities, to preserve political stability and to avoid a deterioration of security.”

Mr Maliki’s partner in power for the past four years, President Jalal Talabani, endorsed this demand.

With 95 per cent of ballots counted, national returns showed Mr Maliki’s sectarian State of Law slate trailing by 11,346 votes the secular Iraqiya bloc led by former premier Iyad Allawi. The race in Baghdad – the prize with 70 seats in the 325-member assembly – is also tightening, with Mr Allawi’s bloc behind by a slim margin.

Mr Maliki, whose list is leading in seven of 18 provinces, clearly fears that Mr Allawi’s bloc, which is ahead in five, could secure a plurality of seats, earning the right to form a government.

Iraqiya received substantial numbers of votes in provinces where sectarian Shia coalitions are ahead, as well as landslides in Sunni majority provinces. Seats are allocated according to provinces.

Furthermore, the Kurdistan Alliance to which Mr Talabani’s party belongs is some 2,000 votes behind Mr Allawi’s slate in the crucial province of Tamim. In spite of violent opposition from local Arab and Turkomen communities and Baghdad, the Kurds seek to append Tamim and its capital, Kirkuk, to the Kurdish autonomous region. The Kurds had hoped a victory in oil-rich Tamim would be seen as a referendum and pave the way for its incorporation in the Kurdish region.

Ten provincial governors belonging to Mr Maliki’s faction backed his call and hundreds of people demonstrated in support of a recount in the Shia holy city of Najaf, which is dominated by Shia sectarian parties .

Intisar Allawi, an Iraqiya candidate, characterised Mr Maliki’s remarks as a threat against the commission intended to put pres- sure on it to favour his alliance. She pointed out that last week, when his bloc was ahead, he said “the election is accurate, fair and transparent. When Iraqiya takes the lead, he makes accusations against the commission.” She said a recount could take many months and create a political vacuum that would affect the security situation.