Baghdad: The Iraqi prime minister`s bloc
said Friday it has started laying the groundwork to form a
coalition government, signalling growing confidence after
preliminary election results showed it winning in at least two
southern provinces.
The outcome from last week`s parliamentary vote was
far from certain, with election officials still counting
ballots nearly a week after Iraqis went to the polls. Partial
tallies so far have only been released from six of Iraq`s 18
provinces, excluding Baghdad, and the picture was further
muddied Friday when results from one province showed a Shiite
religious coalition leading.
Al-Maliki`s rivals also hammered home on their
allegations of fraud, which could mar the process that will
determine who should lead the country as US forces prepare to
go home.
According to early results released Thursday, the
State of Law coalition led by al-Maliki had the lead in two
mainly Shiite provinces while his secular challenger, Ayad
Allawi, was ahead in two provinces north of Baghdad.
The results released Friday from Maysan province,
which borders Iran, showed the Iraqi National Alliance, a
coalition made up of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and
followers of anti-American cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, with a lead
over al-Maliki. With only about 23 percent of the votes
counted, INA was ahead with almost 30,000 votes to 23,000 for
al-Maliki`s alliance.
PTI
