Iraqi VP’s Coalition calls IHEC 'incompetent, corrupt'

ERBIL (Kurdistan 24) – The National Coalition, led by Iraqi Vice-President Ayad Allawi, has accused the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) of being “incompetent and corrupt,” and called for a re-election.

“The polling stations were [on May 12] infiltrated by the dominant political entities,” the Coalition said during a press conference on Thursday regarding the Iraqi parliamentary elections.

The elections were held last Saturday after which many parties voiced objections of fraud, and some encouraged the organization of protests to demonstrate their discontent, prompting an official to ask for backup from security forces.

Alleging that the electronic voting system failed to limit the possibility of fraud in the elections is a common argument made by most of the factions.

In an attempt to address concerns in the Kurdistan Region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) called on the IHEC to arrange a manual vote recounting process to remove all suspicions and maintain the security of the region.

In Thursday’s press conference, The National Coalition’s speaker claimed to “have notes of many violations on record” of alleged fraud committed in the elections.

The speaker said the list of violations included “disallowing new cardholders to cast ballots in polling stations, the intentional breakdown of the electronic devices, preventing Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from voting, and barring [the coalition’s] observers from receiving the results [of the election].”

The speaker claimed The National Coalition’s supporters were prevented from voting “in provinces where we have a large following.”

“The results are not real, therefore, invalid,” he added.

The National Coalition had earlier, after its official announcement, pointed to the low voter turnout rate and said the real voice of the people could not be heard in this manner.

Enumerating the Coalition’s issues with the election, the spokesperson called for the annulment of the results and demanded the formation of a provisional government to facilitate a new, “fair” election.

The Iraqi Parliament, with the signature of 81 MPs, released a letter on Thursday calling for an emergency meeting to address the “issues” with the elections.

Editing by Karzan Sulaivany