Iraq PM, rival locked in tight battle

17 Mar 2010, 11:27 pm   -   Source: AAP
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Iraqi PM Nuri al-Maliki and his main rival Iyad Allawi were locked in a tight election battle, with updated results showing their blocs neck-and-neck.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and his main rival Iyad Allawi were locked in a tight election battle on Wednesday, with updated results showing their blocs neck-and-neck in the race for parliament.

Maliki's State of Law Alliance and Allawi's Iraqiya list were each on track to garner 87 seats in Iraq's Council of Representatives, with fewer than 9,000 votes separating the two nationwide, according to an AFP calculation based on results released after 79 per cent of ballots had been counted.

But votes cast outside Iraq and during special voting for the security forces, the sick and prisoners have not yet been tabulated by Iraq's election commission and could still dramatically affect the outcome.

The election, the second since Saddam Hussein was ousted in the US-led invasion of 2003, comes less than six months before the United States is set to withdraw all of its combat troops from Iraq.

An ally of Maliki charged on Thursday that the count had been plagued by widespread fraud and demanded a nationwide recount.

"There has been clear manipulation inside the election commission in the interests of a certain or a specific list," said Adeeb, a candidate for State of Law in the predominantly Shi'ite central province of Karbala.

"State of Law demands the counting process be repeated to be sure that there has been no manipulation."

Adeeb described Iraqiya's progress as "like a miracle".

His remarks were a sharp departure from Maliki's own just days earlier, when he dismissed allegations of fraud as "very small."

Iyad al-Kinaani, an election commission official, downplayed any allegations of fraud, however, telling AFP that "there is no need to restart the counting process."

The work of the commission is "transparent and is done with great care because we know the importance of this step."

Overall, Allawi held a slim lead in the count, with 2,102,981 votes against 2,093,997 for the State of Law alliance.

However, State of Law leads in Baghdad, Iraq's largest province accounting for more than twice as many seats as any other, as well as in southern oil province of Basra, the third biggest.

Complete election results are expected around March 18, and final results - after all complaints have been investigated and ruled upon - are likely by the end of the month.

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