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December 20, 2005
Sunni alliance challenges legitimacy of Iraqi election
Sunni Arabs alleged Tuesday that last week's parliamentary elections were fraudulent, especially in Baghdad province, and they said if the irregularities are not corrected, new balloting must be held in Iraq's largest electoral district....The general director of Iraq's electoral commission, Adel al-Lami, told The Associated Press that officials didn't announce the results of the remaining 11 percent because of complaints of irregularities. He refused to elaborate.
The Iraqi Accordance Front, a coalition of three major Sunni groups, rejected those results, warning of "grave repercussions on security and political stability" if the mistakes were not corrected....
If Sunnis are marginalized politically, it could cement divisions in Iraq and undermine U.S. hopes of a quick return to stability that would allow for the eventual withdrawal of American troops.
The Sunni officials registering complaints about the vote concentrated their protests on results from Baghdad province, the biggest electoral district.
"It was obvious to us that the forgery and the falsification have been taking place even before the opening of the ballot boxes," the Iraqi Accordance Front said.
The group said it considered the results "a falsification of the will of the people."
If no measures are taken, "we will demand that the elections be held again in Baghdad," said Adnan al-Dulaimi, head of the Sunni alliance. "If this demand is not met, then we will resort to other measures."
A senior member of the United Iraqi Alliance, Jawad al-Maliki, responded that the Sunnis needed to respect the outcome. "Democracy means accepting the opinion of the majority," he said....
Among Al-Dulaimi's complaints were that some voting centers didn't open or were too far away; that some voters were listed on the rolls twice and could have voted more than once; and that some who voted were not registered.
Posted by Mike at December 20, 2005 11:55 AM
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