Allawi bloc wins most seats in Iraq election

[sabra]

Source: Reuters

BAGHDAD, March 26 (Reuters) - Secularist challenger Iyad Allawi's coalition won the most seats in Iraq's parliamentary election with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki running a close second, according to preliminary results released on Friday.

Allawi's cross-sectarian Iraqiya coalition won 91 seats to 89 seats for Maliki's State of Law bloc.

The tight race and Allawi's strong support in Sunni-dominated northern provinces raised the prospect of long and potentially divisive talks on forming a new government.

The Iraqi National Alliance, a Shi'ite grouping whose leaders have close ties to neighbouring Iran, came third with 70 seats, according to the full preliminary results released by the Independent High Electoral Commission, 19 days after the parliamentary election.

Read more: http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LDE62P204.htm

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http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36048046/ns/world_news-washington_post/

‘Saddam lite’ returns to center of Iraqi politics
Ex-PM Allawi is known for willingness to use brute force when necessary


BAGHDAD - The man who was widely derided as an American puppet when he stepped down as prime minister five years ago has become a leading contender for Iraq's top job based on his strong showing in this month's elections among a group that lost more than any other with the U.S.-led invasion.

Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite known for his willingness to use brute force when necessary, has returned to the center of Iraqi politics after receiving millions of votes from Sunni Arabs, a minority that has felt marginalized since Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein was toppled in 2003. Political blocs led by Allawi and Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki are neck-and-neck in a race that is still too close to call with 95 percent of ballots counted. Remaining results are expected to be released Friday.

Allawi and his political coalition won Sunni support in part because he is considered less sectarian than other Shiite leaders and was not in office during the vicious sectarian bloodletting that marked the first two years of Maliki's tenure. With the U.S. military preparing to substantially draw down its presence this summer, many Sunnis voted with the hope that Allawi would restore some of their lost status.

[maddezmom]

1. this will be interesting

and probably not in a good way. :(

[SteppingRazor]

2. On the other hand, leaving aside the personalities for a moment...

it's a good sign in general that an opposition candidate won. It makes it less likely that the vote was rigged.

[maddezmom]

3. that is a good point

:hi:

[Robb]

4. Some serious lemonade from lemons, there

Probably right, too. :hi:

[SteppingRazor]

5. I try to be optimistic, in spite of the many, many times life has shown me I shouldn't be.

:hi:

[liberalpragmatist]

6. The important thing will be whether Maliki relinquishes power

THAT would be a sign that Iraq really is becoming a democracy - if there's a transfer of power at the ballot box.

If Maliki holds on undemocratically - i.e. not hanging on by cobbling together a coalition but instead by suppressing the vote, bringing in the army, etc. - then things go down the tube.

[sabra]

10. MSNBC: al-Maliki vows to dispute the results

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36038249/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

Iraq: Challenger wins most seats
PM's coalition comes in 2nd, disputes election results


BAGHDAD - A bloc led by Iraq's secular former prime minister edged out Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition in parliamentary vote totals released Friday. It was a significant setback al-Maliki, who has been the U.S. partner in Iraq for the past four years.

Al-Maliki vowed to challenge the results, which gave his bloc 89 seats to Ayad Allawi's 91 in Iraq's 325-seat parliament. Allawi is a secular Shiite politician and former prime minister who appealed across sectarian lines to minority Sunnis, who have been out of power since the downfall of Saddam Hussein.

The victory will enable Allawi to try to form a coalition government with rival parties. But the narrow margin sets the stage for months of political wrangling. The next prime minister will lead a government that presumably will be in power when the U.S. completes its scheduled troop withdrawal from Iraq next year.

[SteppingRazor]

11. Well, that didn't take long.

:)



Still, I think you could pretty much expect that to happen in such a close election.

[pampango]

7. Allawi's bloc wins most Iraq seats

Source: Al Jazeera

The secularist Iraqiya coalition led by Iyad Allawi, the former premier, won the most seats in Iraq's March 7 parliamentary election, two more than incumbent Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's bloc.

Iraqiya won 91 seats in the 325-member Council of Representatives, while Maliki's State of Law Alliance won 89 seats, the independent electoral commission said on Friday.

The Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition of mostly Shia religious groups, came third with 70 seats. Kurdistania, comprised of the autonomous Kurdish region's two long-dominant blocs - the Kurdish Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, won 43 seats.

Al Jazeera's Anita McNaught reporting from Baghdad says the list with the largest seats will be given "a first shot" to form a government which must hold at least a majority of 163 seats in the council.

Read more: http://english.aljazeera.net//news/middleeast/2010/03/201032618832513534.html

[Techn0Girl]

8. Isn't this a dupe...

of the following breaking news article poste about a half hour before :


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4321642

[pampango]

9. It definitely is. It pays to check and double check before I post.

:)

[howard112211]

12. Iraq: Challenger wins most seats. PM's coalition comes in 2nd, disputes election results

Source: Associated Press

BAGHDAD - A jubilant Ayad Allawi claimed victory for his secular, anti-Iranian coalition as final parliamentary returns Friday showed him edging out the bloc of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who angrily vowed to fight the results.

The results, if they stand, will give Allawi the first opportunity to form a parliamentary majority and Iraq's next government. But they do not automatically mean that he will become the next prime minister, and the narrow margin sets the stage for months of political wrangling.

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/36038249/ns/world_news-mideastn_africa/

[cbdo2007]

13. Didn't I just read something last week about Bush being "vindicated" because

al Maliki was way ahead and they thought he was going to win?

These definitely seems like bad news for Bush's Iraq legacy.

[lazarus]

14. Kick

can't believe this thread isn't any bigger. This is huge news.

[muriel_volestrangler]

15. Maliki's forces move against winning Sunni candidates

At least four Sunni Muslim candidates who appear to have won parliamentary seats on the winning ticket of secular leader Ayad Allawi have become targets of investigation by security forces reporting to the narrowly defeated Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al Maliki, according to interviews Saturday with relatives, Iraqi security forces and the U.S. military.

All four candidates ran in Diyala province, a restive mainly Sunni area north of Baghdad. One candidate who won more than 28,000 votes is being held incommunicado in a Baghdad jail, two other winners are on the run and the whereabouts of the fourth, a woman, are unknown.

Maliki alluded to the cases in his televised refusal Friday to accept a loss in the March 7 parliamentary elections, saying of unnamed rival candidates: "What would happen if some of them are in prison now on terror accusations and they participated in the elections and might win?"

Maliki's critics say the Shiite prime minister is using state security forces and the courts to remove political rivals - especially prominent Sunnis - in a last-ditch effort to disqualify candidates from Allawi's Iraqiya coalition, which holds only a two-seat lead ahead of Maliki's State of Law bloc.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/03/27/91209/malikis-forces-detain-investigate.html#ixzz0jTCxZFMR

Classy.