Iraq vote recount halted after protest

Raider Visser, who closely follows Iraqi politics for the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs, said it is doubtful the recount demanded by the Shi’ite leader will alter the outcome.

“The only thing that they’re [State of Law] achieving is the postponement of government formation,’’ he said. “It doesn’t seem very realistic. It seems more like a protest.’’

Maliki demanded recounts in five provinces and got one in Baghdad; it is expected to take about two weeks.

But shortly after election workers began to carefully tally ballots under the watchful eye of observers, representatives from the prime minister’s State of Law held a news conference railing against the recount.

They alleged the commission wasn’t conducting it properly because it was not reopening voter records and checking voter signatures against ballots.

State of Law official and Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani also demanded election commission officials be held accountable for manipulating the votes and that the recount be halted.

As the news conference wound down, a tiff between election commission chief Faraj al-Haidari and Shahristani erupted, with the two men raising their voices and wagging fingers at each other as journalists crowded around.

State TV cut live transmission of the event, but the spat continued, with bodyguards physically keeping journalists at bay.

At one point, Shahristani told the election commission official that if the demands of Maliki’s coalition were not met, there would be a crisis and the commission would be to blame.

Khalid al-Assadi, a spokesman for Maliki’s coalition, later clarified that the minister meant there would be even more legal challenges to the courts and the process would drag out even longer.

In the end, the prime minister’s bloc presented a complaint to a court overseeing election disputes. If the court rules in their favor, the votes counted yesterday would have to be recounted, essentially resulting in a recount of the recount.