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Sunni bloc rejects Baghdad vote
20.12.2005
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Iraq's main Sunni Arab political alliance has
rejected the partial results of last week's
parliamentary election in Baghdad province.
The Iraqi Accord Front threatened to block the
creation of a new government if the result was not
changed.
Iraq's president has called for a new government
that includes all ethnic, religious and political
groups.
Jalal Talabani, a Kurd, told reporters Iraq "cannot
be governed by a majority that ignores the
minority".
But the three main Sunni Arab parties that make up
the Iraqi Accord Front said the election in Baghdad
had been rigged and demanded that Iraq's electoral
commission order a new vote.
"We reject these results announced by the
commission," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, one of the
leaders of the front.
"If the commission does not take steps to restore
justice to other lists, we will demand a new
election be held." |
Iraqi
President : Jalal Talabani
Photo: Reuters
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Tarik al-Hashimi, secretary general of the Iraqi
Islamic Party, warned the commission "not to play
with fire".
"We will not remain with our arms crossed and we
will not abandon those who voted for us," said
Khalaf al-Ulayyan, leader of the third party in the
bloc, the Iraqi National Dialogue Council.
Sunni Arabs appeared to have voted in large numbers
last Thursday, having boycotted the election for the
transitional administration in January.
Shias and Kurds dominant
The Iraqi Accord Front came second with 18.6% of the
vote in Baghdad Province, partial results from 89%
of the ballot boxes showed.
The Shia-led United Iraqi Alliance won 58% of the
vote in Iraq's largest province, where 2,161
candidates ran for 59 of the Council of
Representatives' 275 seats.
Former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's secular Iraqi
National List came third.
The election commission also announced that the
United Iraqi Alliance was ahead in Basra and eight
other southern provinces, and that the Kurdistan
Alliance was leading in three northern provinces.
The BBC's Middle East analyst, Roger Hardy, says the
results will be bad news for both Mr Allawi and the
Iraqi Accord Front, which wants to increase Sunni
Arab representation in a parliament currently
dominated by Shia and Kurdish parties.
To judge from the votes counted so far, the Shia
alliance is likely to retain its dominant position,
our correspondent says.
Broad-based government
President Talabani, one of the leaders of the
Kurdistan Alliance, has said he wants to see a
broad-based government regardless of the election
result.
"We want a government linking everyone, Arabs be
they Shias or Sunnis, Kurds and Turkomans," he told
reporters.
Mr Talabani played down the Sunni complaints and
said the election had been carried out fairly.
"Some objections are rational and others are not. It
is up to the electoral commission to separate them,"
he said.
"[The election] strengthened Iraq's standing in the
world and proved that the Iraqis are capable of
practising democracy."
The president said the new government would have to
focus on Iraq's reconstruction and the security
situation.
www.bbc.co.uk
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