Trailing Iraqi leader challenges vote count
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BAGHDAD -- A secular coalition challenging the Iraqi prime minister in the country's historic parliamentary elections has narrowly pulled ahead for the first time in the overall vote count, although it still trails in the crucial province-by-province count.
The Iraqiya coalition, led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, seemed to be gaining momentum, taking a 9,000-vote lead nationwide, according to new totals released late Tuesday. But with about 20 percent of the votes still to be counted from the March 7 election, it was unclear whether that margin would give Mr. Allawi more seats in parliament, which will determine who will lead the government.
The news came as Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his State of Law coalition accused election officials of manipulating vote counts and urged a recount, a candidate from his bloc said. It was the prime minister's first challenge to the results, and his bloc drew a link between its accusations and Mr. Allawi, accusing some electoral commission staff of having allegiances to groups backing Mr. Maliki's rival.
Iraq's vote counting has been winding and chaotic, with election officials publishing ballot results piecemeal -- and then almost immediately subject to fraud accusations. The winner will be tasked with forming a government to oversee the country as U.S. forces head home.
Crucially, with 79 percent of votes counted, Mr. Maliki's coalition was still winning in seven of Iraq's 18 provinces -- including all-important Baghdad -- compared with five for Mr. Allawi. That could prove important, since parliament seats are apportioned mainly by how well coalitions do in the provinces, not according to the overall vote total.
Still, the momentum apparent in Mr. Allawi's overall, nationwide tally could be troubling to the prime minister and his coalition, raising questions about how strong their lead is.
The new results did not alter much for the religious Shiite Iraqi National Alliance and the main Kurdish coalition, which lead in three provinces each.
But in Tamim province, Mr. Allawi was beating his main rival, the Kurdish coalition, by only five votes. The province is home to the disputed city of Kirkuk, hotly contested among its Kurdish, Arab and Turkomen populations.
First Published March 17, 2010 12:00 am
