[Mb-civic] CBC News - SHIA ALLIANCE DOMINATES IRAQI VOTE, NEEDS COALITION TO RULE

Fri Jan 20 16:20:27 PST 2006

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SHIA ALLIANCE DOMINATES IRAQI VOTE, NEEDS COALITION TO RULE
WebPosted Fri Jan 20 10:31:44 2006

---An alliance of Shia religious parties won the most seats in Iraq's new
parliament, but needs coalition partners to govern, the country's
election commission said on Friday.

                             INDEPTH: Iraq's
                         parliamentary election

The United Iraqi Alliance won 128 of the 275 seats up for grabs in the
election on Dec. 15. A coalition of about 20 groups, it is dominated by
Prime Minister Ibrahim Jaafari's Islamic Daawa Party, which promotes
national unity among Shia, Sunnis and Kurds.

The alliance was 10 seats short of the 138 seats needed to govern
without coalition partners. Negotiations with other groups are expected
to begin shortly.

Other winners included: Kurdistan Alliance (Kurdish) - 53 seats Iraqi
Accordance Front (Sunni) - 44 seats Iraqi National List (secular, fronted
by former Iraqi PM Ayad Allawi) - 25 Iraqi Front for National Dialogue
(Sunni) - 11 seats Kurdish Islamic Group (Kurdish) - 5 seats Other
parties - 9 seats Sunni Arabs, which dominated former Iraqi leader Saddam
Hussein's Baath party, increased their representation in parliament,
while Kurds didn't fare as well as they did in the past government. Most
Sunnis boycotted last year's national election.

Authorities tightened security ahead of the announcement in three Sunni
Arab provinces, locations of most of the insurgency. American officials
hope an increased Sunni voice in government will offset the insurgency.

Sunni politicians have alleged vote fraud, including ballot box stuffing
and violations of campaign bans. However, international observers gave
the process a passing grade.

Parties have at least two days to challenge the final results.

About 60 per cent of Iraqis are Shia, while Sunnis and Kurds make up
another 20 per cent each.