Maliki coalition files fraud complaint

The Iraqi premier’s Rule of Law alliance has filed an official complaint over what it calls massive vote rigging in the March general elections. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s coalition secure 89 out of 325 parliamentary seats in the  March 7 vote, two seats shy of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya Party. A spokesman for the Rule of Law said on Sunday that up to 750,000 votes have been manipulated through fraud and that the coalition was seeking a recount in five provinces or at least in Baghdad — the most populous of Iraq’s 18 provinces which accounts for 68 seats, just over a fifth of parliament. “We believe the amount of manipulation in the votes in these five provinces could reach 750,000 votes … this is a huge number and possibly could change enormously the elections results,” coalition spokesman Hachim al-Hasani told reporters. “This is why we presented this appeal and we hope that the judicial appeal panel will do its duty … and look into it seriously,” he added. He said most of the votes affected by fraud would otherwise have gone to the Rule of Law coalition.