Iraq awaits full election results amid tight race

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By Prashant Rao (AFP) – 7 hours ago

BAGHDAD — Full results from Iraq's elections are due on Friday amid a tight race between Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his main rival Iyad Allawi and fears of a nascent political crisis.

Nearly three weeks after the March 7 parliamentary polls, the national election commission is set to release complete results, with the prolonged counting process fuelling allegations of fraud and vote manipulation.

The results come around five months before the United States is due to withdraw all of its combat troops from Iraq, and Washington will be keen to see a smooth outcome from the election.

Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) is set to publish the figures at a news conference at the Rasheed Hotel in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone at 7pm (1600 GMT).

Figures released by IHEC, based on 95 percent of ballots cast, put just 11,000 votes between Maliki's State of Law Alliance and Allawi's Iraqiya bloc.

The two groups are on pace to garner 91 seats apiece in the 325-member Council of Representatives, according to an AFP calculation.

The list that forms the single largest group in parliament will be chosen by Iraq's president, who is elected by the legislature, to form a government.

If it does not succeed within 30 days, another group will be selected, as per Iraq's constitution.

However, no bloc is expected to win the 163 seats required to form a parliamentary majority, and protracted coalition building is likely.

The Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition led by Shiite religious groups, and Kurdistania, comprised of the autonomous Kurdish region's two long-dominant parties, are expected take 68 and 42 seats respectively and will be major players in any talks on forming a government.

But tensions have been raised over allegations of fraud during the vote and the subsequent count, claims made most prominently by Maliki, who has cried foul and demanded a manual recount, warning that one was needed to "protect political stability... and prevent a return to violence."

While electoral authorities have rebuffed the incumbent's request, State of Law has threatened not to recognise results it sees as tainted, potentially plunging Iraq into a major political crisis.

State of Law has organised several demonstrations in recent days in predominantly Shiite provinces in the south, where it performed well in the parliamentary election.

Provincial council chiefs in 10 central and southern provinces, including Baghdad, who belong to the bloc also published a statement on Wednesday threatening "a major escalation" if Maliki's recount demand was not met. They did not elaborate.

IHEC officials and Western diplomats downplayed allegations of fraud and pleaded for patience as the count continued.

Security officials have warned that protracted coalition building could give insurgent groups and Al-Qaeda a chance to further destabilise Iraq.

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