FILE / TURKEY: Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi calls for international supervision on recount which could alter election results

Record ID: 722260

  • Title: FILE / TURKEY: Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi calls for international supervision on recount which could alter election results
  • Date: 20th April 2010
  • Summary: ANKARA, TURKEY (APRIL 19, 2010) (REUTERS) IRAQI VICE PRESIDENT TAREQ AL-HASHEMI ARRIVING AT TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTRY RESIDENCE VARIOUS OF HASHEMI SHAKING HANDS WITH TURKISH FOREIGN MINISTER AHMET DAVUTOGLU (SOUNDBITE) (English) IRAQ'S SUNNI VICE PRESIDENT TAREQ AL-HASHEMI SAYING: "First of all this is not a surprise for me and everybody should comply with a decision taken today. We have no reservations on such decision. The problem is the supervision of the recounting process. I think this is a highly sensitive issue. We have to guarantee that the group of supervisors is being nominated by a neutral body like United Nations with highly professional staff to do the recounting as soon as possible. This is the only loophole that has be taken care of." HASHEMI LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 5th May 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1C5JCAYZZGO49W5J8VLI0MPQ8
  • Story Text: A panel on Monday (April 19) ordered a recount of ballots cast in Baghdad in Iraq's March 7 election, raising the chance of a reversal in the results that gave a cross-sectarian group backed by minority Sunnis a slim lead.
    Electoral commissioner Hamdiya al-Husseini said the manual recount would begin immediately but she was not sure how long it would take.
    The Iraqi capital accounts for 68 seats in the 325-seat parliament, making it a key prize, and Shi'ite Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law alliance had been seeking a recount after coming a close second in the election .
    Iraq's Sunni Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi, on a visit to Turkey, said he supported the decision but urged an international, unbiased supervision of the recounting.
    "First of all this is not a surprise for me and everybody should comply with a decision taken today. We have no reservations on such decision. The problem is the supervision of the recounting process. I think this is a highly sensitive issue. We have to guarantee that the group of supervisors is being nominated by a neutral body like United Nations with highly professional staff to do the recounting as soon as possible. This is the only loophole that has be taken care of," Hashemi told Reuters after he met with Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, in Ankara.
    Seen as a milestone as Iraq emerges from the sectarian slaughter unleashed after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion, last month's ballot produced no clear winner.
    The Iraqiya list of a former prime minister, Iyad Allawi, came first with 91 seats, according to preliminary results, after winning the broad backing of Sunnis frustrated at the rise of Shi'ite political supremacy since the fall of Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein.
    Maliki's Shi'ite-led State of Law won 89 seats while erstwhile Shi'ite allies grouped in the Iraqi National Alliance got around 70. Minority Kurds who enjoy virtual autonomy in Iraq's north collectively control another 58 or so seats.
    The blocs have been involved in negotiations to form coalitions to create a working majority in the next parliament and select a prime minister.
    Maliki's alliance and the INA have been inching toward a union that could sideline Allawi, likely producing anger among Sunnis and providing fresh fuel for a stubborn Sunni-led insurgency.
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