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WORLD NEWS Friday 22 June 2018

Iraq set for election recount to salvage tainted result

By PHILIP ISSA said the recount would get
BAGHDAD (AP) — Iraq's Su- the country "70, 80, 90 per-
preme Court on Thursday cent" of the way to having
upheld a disputed law or- an untainted result, but that
dering a hand recount of because of the Baghdad
the ballots from last month's warehouse fire there would
national elections after never be 100 percent cer-
widespread allegations of tainty.
fraud embarrassed politi- Outgoing Parliament
cal leaders and marred the Speaker Salim al-Jabouri
initial result. called the fire arson, but
What was supposed to authorities have not named
mark the start of a new era any suspects in their investi-
for Iraq has turned into a gation.
political crisis as the charg- A recount is not likely to
es of vote tampering grew change the balance of
too loud for Prime Minister power between the coun-
Haidar al-Abadi's govern- try's Shiite, Sunni, and Kurd-
ment to ignore. ish blocks, according to
The May 12 election was the Bilal Wahab, a fellow at
first since Iraq declared vic- the Washington Institute for
tory over the Islamic State Near East Policy.
group, which was in con- "The majority of accusations
trol of one-third of Iraqi ter- of fraud were from within
ritory just three years ago. the communities, and not
But the euphoria over that In this Sunday, June 10, 2018 file photo, Iraqi electoral officials work to salvage ballot boxes as between them," Wahab
milestone was quickly over- smoke rises from a fire that broke out at Baghdad's largest ballot box storage site in Baghdad, said. Shiite groups have
shadowed by the charges Iraq. dominated government
of voter irregularities that Associated Press since the U.S. invaded Iraq
surfaced on the day of the in 2003, deposing Saddam
election and grew louder in weeks, if not longer, and led President Fuad Masum was unjust to voters who Hussein and ushering in an
the weeks that followed. promises to delay the al- and the national elections cast legitimate ballots. era of sectarian civil war.
Adding to the outcry was ready sluggish process of commission to charge law- An estimated 3 million Iraqis While the charges of vot-
a suspicious fire days after forming a new govern- makers with political inter- live in displaced persons ing irregularities in the May
Parliament ordered the re- ment. ference. camps, and internation- election have centered on
count that burned down Still, the populist preacher But the Supreme Court al groups urged authori- alleged tampering with the
a warehouse believed to Muqtada al-Sadr, who ruled that the legislation ties to take measures to electronic voter machines
contain some of the ballots came in a surprise first was broadly constitutional ensure they could vote. and falsified results, scores
cast by Baghdad voters. place in the vote, called and endorsed an order to Many were driven from of voters were turned away
The Interior Ministry said the on his supporters to respect replace the Independent their homes during battles from voting stations be-
June 10 blaze was con- the recount ruling. Elections Commission with against the Islamic State cause the election author-
fined to a storage unit hold- "I call on everyone to show a panel of nine judges to group, and are presumed ity failed to issue proper
ing the electronic machin- restraint and deference to supervise a recount. The to be overwhelmingly Sun- identity documents in time.
ery introduced in the elec- the law, even if they are commission, disputing the ni, reinforcing the percep- Those irregularities, as well
tion to speed up the vote not convinced by it," al-Sa- fraud allegations, had re- tion that they are being as reports of voter intimida-
count and protect against dr said in a statement. fused to conduct one of its marginalized by the Shiite- tion and vote buying, will
ballot stuffing, and insisted Thursday's Supreme Court own. dominated government in be impossible to detect in a
the ballots were secure. decision upheld a law or- However, the court reject- Baghdad. recount said Vian al-Sheikh
But eyewitness reports said dering a recount passed ed a measure invalidating Still, a hand recount is un- Ali, director of the election
some ballots were charred by Parliament after the ini- all ballots cast abroad and likely to dispel the fraud al- monitoring group Tammuz.
and others soaked as fire- tial results showed that two- by Iraqis displaced by re- legations. Voter turnout in the elec-
fighters battled the blaze. thirds of current lawmakers cent conflict. Chief Justice Ahmad al-Abadi, a lawyer tion was 44 percent, the
A hand recount of all 11 would lose their seats. The Medhat al-Mahmoud said representing Parliament's lowest in the post-Saddam
million ballots could take timing of the law's passage that sweeping measure case to the Supreme Court, era.q