BAGHDAD, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- The political coalition
backed by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki came first in races for provincial
councils in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite provinces.
The Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq
(IHEC) released Thursday the first official tallies five days after the
country's landmark polls in a news conference in Baghdad heavily guarded Green
Zone.
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki
waves to supporters during an election campaign rally in Hilla, 100 km (62
miles) south of Baghdad January 26, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
The results showed that Maliki's State of Law
Coalition effectively won the race in Baghdad and eight other Shiite provinces.
Maliki's coalition won 38 percent of the vote in
Baghdad While Shiite allies of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and Sunni bloc
gained 9 percent of votes separately.
Maliki also won 37 percent of vote in Iraq's second
largest city of Basra, whereas the group backed by the once powerful Shiite
Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (ISCI), headed by Abdul Aziz Hakim, came second
with 11.6 percent in the oil-hub city in southern Iraq.
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki
dips his finger in ink as he votes at a polling station in Baghdad's Green
Zone January 31, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
In Shiite province of Kerbala, Maliki's coalition
came third behind the list of Yousif al-Habobi, a former Baathist and another
Shiite group.
Meanwhile, the results also showed that Sunni Arabs
regained power at the expense of the Kurds in the province of Nineveh and
Diyala, which remains the last battlefields between U.S. troops and al-Qaida
militants.
The Hadbaa List, a secular nationalist group, won
48.4 percent of vote in Sunni Arab dominated province of Nineveh, while the
group backed by Kurdish parties came second with 25.5 percent. The Kurds had
benefited from a massive Arab boycott in the previous elections in 2005.
Electoral workers tally votes at a
polling station in Basra, 420 km (260 miles) southeast of Baghdad, January
31, 2009. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
The Kurds also were the biggest losers in the
volatile province of Diyala, in northeast of Baghdad, where the Accordance
Front, a Sunni bloc, which includes the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), came first
with 21.1 percent, while the Kurdish parties came second with 17.2 percent.
The Kurdish parties are running the election in the
provinces of Diyala and Nineveh alone among other Arab secular and
religious(Shiite and Sunni) parties. The elections in the two provinces is a
signal that Arabs are determined to resist any part of their provinces to join
the three Kurdish provinces of the semi-autonomous region in northern Iraq.
Iraqis wait to vote at a polling station
in Baghdad, capital of Iraq, Jan. 31, 2009. Iraqi provincial voting
started Saturday morning as Iraqis went to the polls, during which some
14,400 candidates were contesting 440 provincial seats. (Xinhua/Gao
Shan) Photo
Gallery>>>
In Anbar province, in western Iraq, tension between
rival Sunni parties have been running high after leaders of the Awakening
Council groups, or Sahwa militant groups who fought al-Qaida militants in their
areas, accused the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP), headed by Vice President Tariq
al-Hashimi, of committing fraud to win majority of the 29-seat provincial
council. IIP vehemently denied the accusation.
The tribal leaders in Anbar maybe finally satisfied
after they came second with 17.1 percent of the vote following the Sunni secular
party lead by Salih al-Mutlaq who won 17.6 of the vote, while the IIP came third
with 15.9 percent.
On Saturday, millions of Iraqis headed to cast their
ballots in polling stations across 14 out of 18 Iraqi provinces to choose their
leaders in provincial councils.
BAGHDAD, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The Iraqi electoral commission
is probing Wednesday serious allegations of electoral fraud in Anbar province in
western Iraq that if confirmed could change the election results there.
The Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq
(IHEC) has received many complaints about fraud and irregularities from the
Sunni Arab dominated province of Anbar, Faraj al-Haidari, head of the IHEC
said. Full story
BAGHDAD, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Polling stations closed doors
on Saturday in Iraq's provincial elections after being held open an extra hour
for the heavy turnout during the last hours of the day.
Polls closed at 6:00 p.m. (1500 GMT) after 11 hours
of casting ballots for several millions out of some 15 million Iraqis who were
called to elect members of the provincial councils in 14 out of Iraq's 18
provinces. Full story
Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki
votes at a polling station in Baghdad's Green Zone Jan. 31, 2009.
(Xinhua/Reuters Photo) Photo
Gallery>>>
BAGHDAD, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri
al-Maliki said that he expects a strong turnout in Saturday's provincial
election and called on Iraqis to participate in large numbers.
"All the indicators refer to that the turnout to the
ballot boxes is strong," he said after casting his ballot in a voting station in
Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone. Full story
BAGHDAD, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Iraqis face a milestone of
reshaping the political landscape of the war-torn state on Saturday, as over 70
percent of its 15 million eligible voters are to cast their ballots in hundreds
of polling stations across the nation's 14 provinces.
In Saturday's regional parliamentary elections, the
first nationwide election in three years, Iraqis will choose leaders for those
provincial councils, when more than 14,400 candidates, about3,900 of them women,
are competing for 444 seats. Full story
