Iraq's Maliki 'set to win elections'

[k98nights]

Iraq's Maliki 'set to win elections'

 

 

Preliminary results show Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki winning largest share of seats in last month's polls.

Last updated: 19 May 2014 14:23

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maliki's main rivals all finished with between 19 and 29 seats overall, according to election commission results [EPA]

 

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition won the most seats in Iraq's parliamentary elections but fell short of a majority, leaving him in the driver's seat to retain his post despite vocal opposition.

Monday’s results from the election commission showed Maliki's State of Law alliance garnered 92 out of 328 parliamentary seats, with the incumbent himself winning more than 721,000 personal votes.

Both were by far the highest such figures from the April 30 election.

But he still fell short of a majority, meaning he will have to win the support of rivals from across the communal spectrum, some of whom have sharply criticised Maliki and refused to countenance his bid for a third term in office.

State of Law won 30 seats in Baghdad alone, and came first in 10 provinces overall, all of them in the bloc's traditional heartland in the Shia-majority south of the country.

Maliki's main rivals all finished with between 19 and 29 seats overall, according to an AFP news agency tally of election commission results.

Post-election alliances

Iraq's political parties have for weeks been meeting and manoeuvring as they seek to build post-election alliances, but the formation of a new government is still expected to take several months.

As in previous elections, the main blocs are expected to agree on an encompassing package that ensures the prime minister, president and parliament speaker are all selected together.

Under a de facto agreement established in recent years, Iraq's prime minister is a Shia Arab, the president is a Kurd and the speaker of parliament is a Sunni Arab.

Maliki's critics accuse him of consolidating power, particularly within the security forces, and blame him for a year-long deterioration in security, rampant corruption and what they say is an insufficient improvement in basic services.

The election and its aftermath came amid a surge in violence that has killed more than 3,500 people this year, fuelling fears that Iraq could be slipping back into the all-out conflict that cost tens of thousands of lives in 2006 and 2007.

In particular, the 63-year-old faces strong and vocal opposition in the Sunni-dominated west and the Kurdish north, with rivals there insisting they will not agree to a third term.

Maliki blames external factors such as the war in neighbouring Syria for the surge in unrest, and says his so-called partners in government snipe at him in public and block his legislative efforts in parliament.

The run-up to the election, Iraq's first since US troops withdrew at the end of 2011, was plagued by attacks on candidates and campaign rallies, and allegations of malpractice that contributed to lower turnout in areas populated by disgruntled minority Sunnis.

But the election has nevertheless been hailed largely as a success by the international community, with the United States and United Nations praising voters for standing up to militancy.

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http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/05/iraq-maliki-set-win-elections-201451913511590643.html

 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Perspective2011]

I don't trust the counting of votes for even a second.

 

Wonder how many death threats or deals were made to make this possible...

[calkid11]

Thank you

[Boozer]

This is as Depressing as it was when I heard Ostupid won a 2nd term.  

[tn vol]

Ostupid was a little worse.

[_RFJ]

It's not depressing at all actually in light of this fact from the article...

 

"But he still fell short of a majority, meaning he will have to win the support of rivals from across the communal spectrum, some of whom have sharply criticised Maliki and refused to countenance his bid for a third term in office."

 

​They've already made their alliances in preparation for this. I see a unified Iraq on the horizon we just need to be a little more patient while all this plays out.
 

Edited May 19, 2014 by _RFJ

[Magdalen]

Agreed. It may take some time, but Maliki is on his way out.

[DragonChylde]

Also remember he is about to be called to the International Court for war crimes. Even if he gets a majority, he may not be able to be PM. I am hoping he is in jail.

[Djorgie]

Still don't believe Maliki will get another term. Just more of the same... We get a bunch of articles that say he's out and that he decided not to run again, etc. etc. and then comes the opposing articles stating the polar opposite. It's just like all the articles about their currency and getting anything done or passed or implemented. One day they say one thing and the next it's a different story.

 

Who knows? Guess we'll find out after the fact as usual.

[Cynthia AH]

You are so right RFJ

[sandfly]

THANKS

[yota691]

add this...

5 corpses dumped in Baghdad

 

5 corpses.  National Iraqi News Agency reports 5 corpses were discovered in Baghdad,  But every one wants to pretend the election -- with still unannounced results -- is going to fix things.

Nouri's acting as though he's won a third term -- he hasn't -- and that he's a done deal -- he isn't.

US Vice President Joe Biden calls Nouri and makes nice with him while offering a caution of don't harm civilians -- something Nouri's been doing in Falluja since January.

And 5 bodies in Baghdad in one day.

The IHEC has declared May 25th as the day they'll announce the results.

All that's accomplished is efforts to spin the press -- a press very willing to be spun.


AFP reports this morning the results are supposed to be issued "Monday."  Presumably, they mean today. 

They also insist "are expected to put Nouri Al Maliki in the driver’s seat to remain Iraq’s prime minister for a third term despite vocal opposition and markedly worsening security."

They insist that because they're so not doing their jobs.


5 corpses were dumped in Baghdad today.

Don't pretend the whorish press doesn't have blood on its hands.

It refused to report on Nouri's actions.  They scrubbed the facts as surely as they tongued his crotch.

Let's take an event from 2013.

The April 23, 2013 massacre of a sit-in in Hawija resulted from  Nouri's federal forces storming in. Alsumaria noted Kirkuk's Department of Health (Hawija is in Kirkuk)  announced 50 activists have died and 110 were injured in the assault.   AFP reported the death toll rose to 53.  UNICEF noted that the dead included 8 children (twelve more were injured).

Why is it that the English language outlets -- including AFP -- refused to report UNICEF's finding?

To this day they won't report it.

To this day.

They usually go with "many" deaths or 44.  But they never report the children.

Patrick Cockburn wrote about it long after the fact and left out the children.

It's a lot more difficult to insinuate that the dead in Hawija were terrorists if you include the fact that Nouri's forces killed 8 children and left twelve more injured.

They always lie for Nouri. 

AFP lies today.

The vote totals don't mean a thing.

In the US, you're told to speak out, you're told to oppose certain things.  Bully Boy Bush's illegal spying, for example, had to end with him.  It didn't.

Why does that matter?

Because Barack's actions make it legitimate.

It's in conflict with every law on the book, yes.  But there is written law and there is custom.

Nouri's actions in 2010 went against the Constitution. 

No longer does it matter who got the most votes.  The custom is now who can assemble the largest bloc.

Which removes the people even further from direct democracy or the prospect of it ever.  Instead of their votes counting, the back door dealing becomes the most important thing.

All the totals mean is a new round starts up.  And, no, this isn't normal. 

Neither is 5 corpses discovered dumped in Baghdad.  But the press does such a good job of normalizing the unacceptable.

[uncirculd]

Don't mean anything.  Allawi won the last one but maliki took the PM and every other top cabinet job that only had proxies. 

[_RFJ]

Don't mean anything. Allawi won the last one but maliki took the PM and every other top cabinet job that only had proxies.

Yes. This is the exact thing that is going to happen again, only this time Maliki is in the same position Allawi was in last go round. Due to the Sainte-Legue system they are under, as voted for and used by Maliki to win out overv Allawi in the end, even though he won the pop vote he still comes up short.