Supporters of the parties rejecting the results of the legislative elections in Iraq continue their sit-in for the eighth day in a row, in front of one of the entrances to the Green Zone (in the center of the capital, Baghdad), at a time when the Electoral Commission begins tomorrow morning, Wednesday, the manual recounting operations after accepting 46 appeals and complaints from those objecting to the preliminary results. For the elections, in conjunction with the entry of the United States on the line of supporters of these results, which worsens the position of the opponents.
Al-Jazeera correspondent said that the sit-in area is witnessing a calm a day after the expiry of the deadline given by the Organizing Committee for Demonstrations to the Electoral Commission, to re-count and count the votes manually.
For his part, a member of the media team of the Electoral Commission, Dr. Imad Jamil Mohsen, said - in a press statement today, Tuesday - that the Electoral Commission received 1,400 appeals and complaints from blocs, parties and candidates objecting to the preliminary results of the elections, and a study of 1,277 of them has been completed, distributed according to the acceptance of 46 appeals for the presence of Evidence calls for recounting, and 1,231 complaints were rejected for lack of evidence to appeal.
He pointed out that the Electoral Commission will start tomorrow morning, Wednesday, by recounting and sorting in 800 electoral stations distributed over a number of governorates, most notably Baghdad, Nineveh, Salah al-Din, Basra, Erbil, Muthanna and Dhi Qar, in the presence of observers from the objecting entities, international observers and the media.
pic.twitter.com/Ln9qNQFMrp
— The Independent High Electoral Commission (@IHECOfficial) October 26, 2021
He added that the manual counting and recounting will take place in Baghdad for all governorates from eight in the morning until five in the evening, for the stations that were accepted for appeal due to the presence of evidence related to differences in the number of votes and their scrutiny, as well as some problems that accompanied the electoral process.
Washington's position
This comes at a time when the United States entered the line of supporters of the results of the Iraqi parliamentary elections, in a step that is the most important after a similar position to the UN Security Council.
The US State Department said - in a statement - that Washington welcomes the UN press release on the Iraqi elections, and congratulates the people and government of Iraq on the success of the electoral process, which it described as "safe, technically sound and largely peaceful."
The US State Department added that "the Iraqi elections were an opportunity for Iraqi voters to decide their future through a government that reflects their will," stressing that it "joins the international community in condemning the threats of violence against the United Nations Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI), the Electoral Commission and the Iraqis."
The statement called on all parties to respect the rule of law and the integrity of election procedures, stressing that Washington looks forward to working with the new Iraqi government when it is formed, to strengthen the strategic partnership with regard to multiple common interests, including Iraq's stability and sovereignty, economic empowerment, anti-corruption efforts, and independence Energy, climate and human rights protection.
The positions of the objectors
On the other hand, the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq movement, led by Qais Khazali, accused the United Nations Mission in Iraq (UNAMI) of granting the task of examining the parliamentary elections to a company whose shares are mostly Israeli.
A spokesman for the movement's political bureau, Mahmoud Al-Rabee, said - through his Twitter account - that "the only company out of 10 examining companies nominated by the United Nations, and the commission had to contract with it, and it was said that it was German, and after research and investigation it was found that it is a multinational company, most of whose shares are Israeli."
Al-Rubaie indicated that this "means that the United Nations has handed over the commission and the elections to the Israelis to manipulate their results."
The only company of 10 companies closer nominated by the
United Nations and it
was incumbent upon the
Commission to contract with them is
said to
have German and after research and investigation turned out to
be a multinational company (most Israeli shares) means that the
United Nations handed over the
neck of the
Commission and the
elections to the
hands of the
Israelis to manipulate the
results
followed
— Mahmoud Al-Rubaie (@AlrubaeayMahmod) October 25, 2021
For his part, the National Coalition in Iraq led by Iyad Allawi called on the Electoral Commission to move quickly to spare the country slipping, and to respond to the demands of the national forces objecting to the election results.
The coalition said - in the statement - that failure to meet these demands would plunge the country into a crisis whose results could not be imagined, pointing out that the UN Security Council's consideration that the elections were fair indicates a pre-position to harm Iraq and its democratic experience.
Sadr's statements
In a related context, the leader of the Sadrist bloc, Muqtada al-Sadr, affirmed that the future policy of the next government will deal firmly in accordance with the law, which must first be imposed on officials.
Al-Sadr added - in a tweet on Twitter - that the next government should provide a comfortable life for the people, with no difference between one affiliation and another, and that this needs cooperation between the people and the government, in order to pass the law and activate sanctions.