Allawi's coalition wins most seats in Iraq vote

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Baghdad, Iraq (CNN) -- Ayad Allawi's Iraqiya coalition won the most seats in Iraq's parliamentary elections, according to results that Iraqi election officials issued Friday.

Allawi's bloc edged out Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's coalition by two in the final count of Iraq's March 7 election for the 325-member parliament, officials said. Allawi is a former Iraqi prime minister.

Allawi's bloc won 91 seats, and the State of Law coalition gained 89. The Iraqi National Alliance, dominated by Shiite parties, got 70 seats, and a Kurdish alliance took 43.

Now Allawi will begin the tough work of gathering at least 163 seats to forge a coalition government.

Allawi, who was prime minister in 2004, is a secular Shiite whose bloc includes prominent Sunni Arab politicians, including Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi.

Al-Maliki has asked for a manual recount as members of his State of Law coalition and other blocs have alleged voter fraud as the margin of votes separating the candidates has narrowed.

Video: Protesters call for recount

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Iraq

Elections and Voting

Nuri al-Maliki

Baghdad

He has pledged to appeal the results.

Hundreds of supporters of al-Maliki's political bloc took to the streets of Baghdad demanding that the election commission conduct a manual recount. The protesters carried Iraqi and religious flags and chanted.

In other demonstrations in the last week, thousands of al-Maliki supporters took to the streets of Najaf, Karbala, Babil province and Basra demanding a manual recount.

But the Independent High Electoral Commission has rejected demands for a recount. Spokesman Judge Qassim al-Aboodi has said there must be "compelling reasons" and strong evidence of widespread fraud for a recount.

"We made our decision a few days ago and nothing is going to change it," said Saad Al-Rawi, a commissioner with the electoral body. "There will be no manual counting, and this is according to IHEC's professional standards."

Demonstrators protested Friday outside the governor's office in central Baghdad. They were searched at checkpoints. As the crowd yelled slogans, helicopters circled above.

The chants had an anti-Baathist theme similar to al-Maliki's election campaign.

Some chanted: "No return for Baathists," a reference to the political party of executed Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

One person held a huge banner that referred to the Baathists: "Before they have executed our sons and today they will execute our votes."

North of Baghdad, at least 20 people were killed and 60 others wounded Friday in a bombing outside a busy restaurant and a coffee shop in Khalis, a town about 75 kilometers (46 miles) from Baghdad in Diyala province, police said.

Al-Maliki has been highly critical of Hussein's Baath Party. A few weeks after the 2003 invasion of Iraq, top U.S. administrator L. Paul Bremer dissolved Baathist institutions, including the Iraqi army, that were viewed as threats against building a new Iraqi society.

The Baath Party was declared illegal, and many Sunni Arabs who were members lost their government jobs. As a result, the Sunni Arab community became disenfranchised -- many embraced the rising insurgency and stayed away from the first elections in 2005.

http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/03/26/iraq.election/index.html?hpt=T1

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