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Allawi vows to appeal ruling to disqualify poll winner
The decision of the three-judge election court cast doubt on the slim lead of the Sunni-backed al-Iraqiyya bloc over Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s political coalition, since the winning candidate who would lose his seat is from Allawi’s bloc, which captured 91 parliamentary seats compared to 89 for al-Maliki’s State of Law alliance. The court is also considering the fate of at least seven other winning al-Iraqiyya candidates who are accused of having ties to Saddam Hussein’s ousted Baath Party. That decision could deal a fatal blow to Allawi’s lead.
The decision of the court also threatens to anger Sunni voters, who had thrown their support behind secular candidate Allawi’s bloc.
Sunnis largely spurned Prime Minister al-Maliki. Their anger against the Shiite-led government in 2006 and 2007 was one of the key motivators for their bloody insurgency that only recently abated.
Speaking at a meeting hosted by the Ankara-based Middle East Strategic Research Center (ORSAM) after talks with top Turkish officials, Allawi said: “We are not going to accept the confiscation of the constitution and the wellbeing of the Iraqi people, and we will not allow the political process to be the hostage of a few judges,” pledging to apply to the Supreme Court of Iraq to appeal the ruling.
Allawi’s problem is not only the ruling of the election court but also al-Maliki’s challenge of the election results. Al-Maliki successfully demanded a court-ordered ballot recount in Baghdad that could further complicate the process.
Regarding the recount, Allawi said his alliance has some conditions before accepting its results. He said that among these conditions are the recounting of the votes in all disputed areas including Mosul, Basra and Najaf, not just Baghdad. He also demanded to know where the ballot boxes and papers have been kept since the election and who protected and had access to them, because he has a suspicion that during this time period fraud may be occurring.
Explaining his bloc to the Turkish audience, Allawi said that their main pillar was non-sectarianism and that they strongly believe that Iraq should be for all Iraqis regardless of ethnic or religious background. He added that all different sects, religious and ethnic structures are represented in the coalition and that none of those components are considered superior to the others.
“The most important issues for al-Iraqiyya are to rectify the political process and make it as inclusive as possible and to strengthen the state-building institutions,” he said and added that by doing this they aim to improve the security and to show the world that Iraqis are capable of doing it, providing services such as health and electric and power to the public and ensuring political reconciliation as well as a clear foreign policy based on mutual interests and, very importantly, to create the right atmosphere for economic development.
Regarding Turkey’s role in the country, Allawi said Turkey played a positive role by not intervening in internal matters in Iraq. “Secondly, Turkey plays a positive role by providing a favorable regional atmosphere that that is helping Iraq get through its current bottleneck,” he said.
In Ankara, Allawi had talks with President Abdullah Gül, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu. Speaking at a joint news conference with Allawi late on Monday, Davutoğlu appeared to back Allawi’s decision to appeal the election results. “Iraq will have a future that is built on strong foundations to the extent the status quo emerging as a result of the elections is respected,” Davutoğlu said. “There may be unnecessary tensions if debates over the elections continue. Therefore, we think it is important that the appeals process be transparent.”
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