Iraq Official Rejects Sunni Call for Poll Rerun

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq's Electoral Commission rejected on Tuesday a call from the biggest Sunni Arab bloc to rerun last week's vote in Baghdad after partial results showed the ruling Shi'ite Alliance with a big majority in the capital.

``So far there are no objective grounds to order a rerun in any province,'' Hindawi told Reuters, saying the commission had expected such complaints after Thursday's parliamentary poll.

He describing the demand for a repeat vote as ``political'' and added: ``No one is satisfied with the results but those who won are less critical than others of course.''

Adnan al-Dulaimi, leader of a Sunni Arab umbrella group which ran in alliance with the Iraqi Islamic Party in the election under the name Iraqi Accordance Front, said the results were fraudulent and the commission should order a new ballot.

more:http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/news/news-iraq-election-commission.html

these groups have been fighting amongst themselves for generations, only banding together when set upon by an outside force. Like all varieties of religious extremists, they will never be able to find common ground, hence will probably always be infighting.


It's not like Repug vs Dem. It's more like fanatic fundie xian A VS. fanatic fundie xian B.

We see examples of this all the time here in the US, but as usual, our culture fails to grasp the larger context of these types of conflicts.

Seriously, I hope this election works for the Iraqis -- I'd like to see our troops come back home.

Hekate

http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/ireland/Full_Story/did-sgWLr8gN0XpecsgHuTLc4nqWo2.asp

20/12/05
Votes split along ethic lines in Iraq election

By John Lowe, Baghdad
IRAQ’S electoral commission released partial and preliminary results today from the last week’s elections that showed Shiite and Kurdish parties dominating in provinces where they are the predominant group.

The commission, however, only released preliminary results from one province where Sunni Arabs are the majority of the population. The results released so far show that the votes were divided along ethnic and sectarian lines.

In predominantly Sunni Arab Salahuddin province, where Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit is located, parties and tickets affiliated with the religious minority looked set to win an overwhelming majority. Results from 89 percent of the ballot boxes showed three Sunni Arab tickets taking the majority of the votes.

Adnan al-Dulaimi's Iraqi Accordance Front was winning 33.42% of the votes, followed by the Iraqi Front for National Dialogue receiving 19.46% and the Iraqi National Front garnering 10.62%. The Shiite United Iraqi Alliance received just 7.43%, while the Kurdistan Coalition List an alliance consisting of the two main Kurdish parties trailed with 4.29%.
more

Making it honest and credible is harder.

Forming an effective government from the results is harder still.

If the parties can't agree it was a fair election, what makes anyone think they will organize into an operating government that is accepted as legitimate by all.

A banana in the ass? :shrug:

LINK

Sunni Arab and a key secular party charged Tuesday that parliamentary elections were tainted by fraud, and demanded an inquiry into preliminary results showing the governing Shiite religious bloc with a larger than expected lead.

With politicians barely containing their hostility toward each other, the bitter climate raised questions about U.S. hopes that the Dec. 15 vote will lead to a more inclusive government involving Sunni Arabs, the minority group that formed the core of Saddam Hussein's government and is now the backbone of the insurgency.

The complaints focused mainly on Baghdad, Iraq's largest electoral district and one that has large numbers of Sunnis and Shiites. With 89 percent of ballot boxes counted, the Shiite bloc United Iraqi Alliance were leading in the province with about 59 percent of the vote, while the Sunni Arab alliance, the Iraqi Accordance Front, trailed with 19 percent.

Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Sunni Arab alliance the Iraqi Accordance Front, listed several complaints, including voting centers failing to open, shortages in election materials and reports of multiple voting.

Bush wanted anybody but the Shiites to win because they were fundie Islamic / Iran fans who will probably tell us to get the hell out and will be more likely to be buddies with people who don't like us.

Hey maybe THAT's Bush's exit strategy for Iraq - being told by the people there to get the hell out...

:-)

will be able to muster, at this point. "They asked us to leave! We must respect their wishes. What happens now is up to them..."

Bush gets impeached.

The Iraqis ask us to leave.

The new President gets us the hell out..

Say where's Gerry Ford when you need him

It sounds like 1974 all over again...

Then in 2008 we get Jack Carter for President (???)

Several of the interviews in Iraq with Sunni voters indicate that a lot of them thin they're the majority in Iraq. Whatever the actual results, the Sunni are going to be upset and likely to continue the "insurgency".

I suspect the Shiite/Kurdish coalition will move ahead while dealing directly with the Sunni. That's why the Ministry of Interior has been turned into a Shiite militia.

:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
:woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:

at least in large part. For some reason, most Sunnis have believed they are the majority in Iraq. And even the most well informed Sunni's have argued that they are a very large minority (40% of the population) and not the 20% they appear to actually represent.

Which is why the administration was so foolish to harp on these elections as the apotheosis of the insurgency. They were nothing of the sort. They merely represented the official kickoff of the Iraqi civil war....the moment when the Sunni's realized that the only way they'll even get some of what they what is out and out warfare.

God help us.