Iraq to recount every vote in May polls

File photo showing the head of Iraq's Independent Higher Election Commission (IHEC), speaks during a press conference, in the presence of the nine members, in Baghdad, Iraq, May 31, 2018, in Baghdad. (AFP)

The decision throws into question the scale of the shock triumph of Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, whose Sairoon alliance won 54 seats. (Getty Images)

• Parliament orders ballots to be tallied by hand after claims of ‘widespread manipulation’
• Mohammed Abu Kallal, a prominent member of the Al-Hikma alliance, which was in negotiations to form a coalition with Al-Sadr, warned of potential violence if the recount is not finished by the end of the current legislative term.

BAGHDAD:  Iraq’s Parliament on Wednesday ordered a nationwide recount of last month’s election after complaints from Prime Minister Haider Abadi of “widespread manipulation” in the May 12 vote.

Their decision throws into question the scale of the shock triumph of controversial Shiite cleric Muqtada Al-Sadr, whose Sairoon alliance won 54 seats. 

Mohammed Abu Kallal, a prominent member of the Al-Hikma alliance, which was in negotiations to form a coalition with Al-Sadr, warned of potential violence if the recount is not finished by the end of the current legislative term.

“We fear this decision will lead to a constitutional vacuum in the country if the results do not appear before June 30,” he said. 

“We fear this decision will affect Iraq’s stability. We fear that the security situation will be chaos. We will not tolerate a new tragedy.”

For the first time in Iraq’s electoral history, the ballots in last month’s vote were counted electronically, rather than by hand. This led the MPs to demand a manual recount — the timing of which will now be decided by the Supreme Judicial Council.

On Tuesday, Arab News reported that Iran was scrambling to secure a role in the new Iraqi government, amid concerns in Tehran that it was being sidelined by Al-Sadr.

Al-Sadr has been at the forefront of talks to establish a coalition of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish parties that would ensure Abadi remained in his post and keep key ministerial positions from Iran’s allies.

The pro-Iranian Shiite Al-Fattah alliance came second in the election with 47 seats, but has been struggling to gain a toehold in any new administration thanks to weeks of behind the scenes deal-making by its rivals. 

Al-Fattah is led by Hadi Al-Amiri, head of the Badr Organization, one of the most prominent armed factions in Iraq. However, Al-Sadr’s followers have an even more notorious reputation.

One of the main beneficiaries of the recount is likely to be the State of Law alliance led by former Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki. It won 25 seats in the election compared with 92 in 2014.