Kurdish opposition groups complained of widespread violations in Saturday’s Kurdistan elections but Iraq’s electoral commission said voting was largely sound. The Change list, which is headed by independent Noshirwan Mustafa, said the authorities had executed a “premeditated plan to change the results for its own benefit.”
“In the afternoon a campaign of violations began on the orders of the officials on the ground of the party in authority in all towns,” the Reform and Services opposition list said in a statement late on Saturday.
The region’s ruling parties – the Kurdish Democratic Party (KDP), led by Barzani, and the Democratic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, a Kurd – ran jointly against more than 20 alliances of smaller parties.
Opposition complaints included voters being allowed to cast ballots without identification, the blocking of polling stations to opposition observers and campaigning after the deadline.
Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) said it would investigate officially submitted complaints of election violations, but told reporters late on Saturday the vote had been largely violation-free.
However, it did say Barzani had broken a campaign deadline rule by speaking to reporters after voting.
“This is not important, it was a very simple matter and has no effect on the elections,” said IHEC’s Qasim al-Sachet.
Jabbar Yawar, a senior KDP member, dismissed complaints of poll irregularities. “We reject this, if there were violations, then they can submit an official complaint,” he said.
Abdilselam Berwari, head of the KDP Political Studies Centee, said the complaints were a case of sour grapes.
“Our response is that we have expected the loser would not be so ready psychologically to accept defeat.”
Despite the accusations of violations, the Change list said that it had won most votes in the autonomous region’s second city of Sulaimaniyah, raising the prospect of a strong opposition in parliament for the first time.
The Change list said in a statement on its website that it had won the most votes in the parliamentary election in Sulaimaniyah, long a PUK stronghold, after a preliminary count, a claim confirmed by a senior KDP source who spoke on condition of anonymity.
“We have won the city and the province of Sulaimaniyah,” the Change list statement said.
The KDP source said that across the region, the joint KDP-PUK “Kurdistania” list won 59 percent of the vote, equating to around 55 seats in the region’s 111-seat Parliament.
The joint list held 78 seats in the outgoing parliament elected in 2005.
A senior Goran official told AFP that the party would win 28 seats – 19 in Sulaimaniyah and nine in Arbil – making it the first credible opposition to KDP-PUK dominance that the region has seen.
Final results are not expected for several days. After the preliminary count in the regional capital Arbil, ballots are to be sent to Baghdad for an official tally.
“The Kurdistania list has won enough seats to form a strong government, and Goran has a sufficient number of seats to be a strong opposition,” said Hoger Shatu, the director of a non-governmental group monitoring the election.
Turnout for the elections was relatively high, at 78.5 percent across Kurdistan, the electoral commission said.
During campaigning, Kurdish leaders made defiant statements on claims to territories they contest with Baghdad, an easy vote-winner among Iraq’s Kurds. But close-to-home issues like graft, jobs and services were increasingly important for voters.
Critics accuse the Kurdistan Regional Government of widespread corruption, abuses by security forces, media intimidation and fostering an atmosphere that stifles dissent. – Reuters, AFP
Maliki says Iraqi officer was ‘out of line’
WASHINGTON: The prime minister of Iraq, Nouri al-Maliki, said in an interview published Sunday that an Iraqi officer was wrong to order American soldiers detained after they killed three Iraqis while going after insurgents.
In the interview in The Washington Post, Maliki is quoted as saying the Iraqi officer was “out of line” and “did not understand the agreement” that governs the US military since the withdrawal last month of US combat forces from Iraqi cities.
Maliki said he called Baghdad and “made clear that they understand that this demand of handing over the people who killed the Iraqis is wrong.” Under the agreement, US forces pulled back to their bases outside urban areas, except in circumstances detailed in the pact.
The report quotes the prime minister as saying the pact “clearly states that American forces have the right to defend themselves, and that’s what they did.”
In the incident Tuesday, two attackers and a bystander were killed when an American convoy on its way to a police station came under attack in west Baghdad.
Many Iraqis think that the withdrawal agreement means US troops are prohibited from any military operation.
However, Maliki said, if Americans “are attacked by any group, according to the agreement, they can return fire, they can defend themselves.” Maliki is wrapping up a week-long US visit. In Washington he met with President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and senior lawmakers. – AP