Iraq, March 21: Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, who is locked in a tight battle with his main rival to form Iraq’s next government, has called for a recount of votes cast in the country’s March 7 polls.
“Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki calls for the high electoral commission to immediately answer the demands of political parties to proceed with a manual recount,” the statement said.
Latest figures by Iraq’s election commission and based on 92 per cent of ballots counted show Maliki’s State of Law Alliance trailing the bloc of his main rival, Iyad Allawi, by 7928 votes.
The statement added, noting that Mr Maliki remained head of the country’s armed forces, that he wanted a recount to “protect political stability, avoid a degradation of the security situation and prevent a return to violence.”
The statement did not specify whether he wanted a nationwide recount, or of particularly provinces.
It differs markedly from Mr Maliki’s own comments just a week ago, when he said on television that election complaints were “very small” in nature and “cannot affect the results.”
—Agencies