Daily Times

Iraq’s election commission has completed a manual recount of votes from a parliamentary election held in May after the process was cut short in Baghdad, state television said on Monday.

The recount was ordered by parliament in June after a government report concluded there were serious violations in an initial count using an electronic vote-counting system.

However, a fire that broke out in the warehouse where the votes were stored had made a complete recount impossible, leading the electoral commission to cancel it the remaining half of the capital, the state broadcaster said.

The commission’s leadership had been suspended and replaced with a panel of judges who oversaw the recount. It is expected to announce its results in the coming days.

The winning parties are currently embroiled in negotiations over forming the next governing coalition. Influential cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s bloc came first in the election, followed by a group of Iran-backed Shi’ite militia leaders, with incumbent Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s bloc in third place.

The political uncertainty has fuelled tensions at a time when public impatience is growing over poor basic services, unemployment and the slow pace of rebuilding after a three-year war with Islamic State which cost tens of billions of dollars.

Published in Daily Times, August 7^th 2018.