Iraq/Kurdistan: 103 polling stations votes cancelled

[Anthea]

PUK wins Kirkuk, KDP takes Duhok

Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission announces preliminary unofficial parliamentary election results for Kirkuk and Duhok provinces on May 15, 2018.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's election body released results for Duhok and Kirkuk provinces on Tuesday night, with KDP predictably taking the former, and PUK overwhelmingly taking the latter.

Duhok:

1. KDP - 348,777
2. Kurdistan Islamic Union - 48,300
3. CDJ - 25,449
4. PUK - 25,823
5. New Generation - 17,823
6. Babul Arab - 8,133
7. Kurdistan's Socialist Party - 7,194
8. Kurdistan Islamic Union - 4,560
9. Kldan Coalition - 4,815
10. Gorran Movement - 3,619
11. Islamic Group - 3,768

Kirkuk:

1. PUK - 184,300
2. Fatih (Amiri) - 18,406
3. Wataniya (Allawi) - 14,932
4. Nishtiman - 13,775
5. New Generation - 12,836

For Duhok and Kirkuk provinces there are 12 and 13 seats up for grabs, respectively. The KDP did not run any candidates in Kirkuk; calling it “occupied” after Iraqi forces supported by Iran-backed Hashd al-Shaabi paramilitaries took control of the city from Kurdish Peshmerga. Areas in Kirkuk, Diyala, Saladin, and Nineveh remain disputed, claimed by both Erbil and Baghdad.

Gorran, Komal, and CDJ ran together as the Homeland (Nishtiman) coalition in Kirkuk.

They were the two remaining provinces without preliminary unofficial results. The IHEC previously announced outcomes for the other 16 provinces.

Erbil:

1. KDP - 316,001
2. PUK - 77,792
3. New Generation - 69,123
4. CDJ - 49,266
5. Gorran - 39,809
6. Komal - 35,741
7. KIU - 23,933
8. Turkmen Front - 2,332

Sulaimani (including Halabja):

1. PUK - 262,128
2. Gorran - 149,930
3. New Generation - 61,638
4. Komal - 49,343
5. KDP - 46,567
6. CDJ - 44,967
7. KIU - 29,161

Diyala:

1. Qarar Alliance
2. Fatih
3. Al-Wataniya
4. Sayirun
5. Victory Alliance
6. Hikma Front
7. PUK
8. State of Law

Nineveh:

1. Victory Alliance - 164,714
2. KDP - 134,782
3. Al-Wataniya - 97,085
4. Nineveh Our Identity - 78,793
5. Fatih - 73,253

Saladin:

1. Qalat Jamahir Watanyah - 76,069
2. Fatih - 62,425
3. Al-Wataniya - 54,330
4. Victory Alliance - 50,437

Baghdad:

1. Sayirun
2. Fatih
3. State of Law
4. Al-Wataniya
5. Victory Alliance

Anbar:

1. Al-Anbar Is Our Identity
2. Al-Wataniya

Najaf:

1. Sayirun - 92,026
2. Fatih - 82,838
3. Victory Alliance - 71,819
4. Hikma Front - 38,099
5. State of Law - 36,808

Misan:

1. Sayirun - 133,959
2. Fatih - 63,669
3. Hikma Front - 40,176
4. Victory Alliance - 36,257
5. State of Law - 32,137

Wasit:

1. Sayirun
2. Fatih
3. Victory Alliance
4. Hikma Front
5. State of Law

Babil:

1. Fatih
2. Sayirun
3. Victory
4. Hikma Front
5. State of Law

Muthana:

1. Sayirun
2. Fatih
3. Hikma Front
4. Victory Alliance
5. State of Law

Karbala:

1. Fatih
2. Sayirun
3. Victory Alliance
4. State of Law
5. Hikma Front
6. Al-Wataniya

Dhi Qar:

1. Sayirun
2. Fatih
3. Victory Alliance
4. State of Law
5. Hikma Front
6. Iradah (Will)
7. Al-Wataniya

Basra:

1. Fatih
2. Sayirun
3. Victory Alliance
4. State of Law
5. Hikma Front

Al-Qadisiyah:

1. Fatih
2. Sayirun
3. Victory Alliance
4. Hikma Front
5. State of Law

Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr who is in an alliance called Sariyun with the Communist Party of Iraq has emerged as the apparent winner, but will still need to garner enough support, if he is to form a coalition government.

There have been widespread complaints about Iraq's election process.

The KDP politburo on Tuesday supported a manual recount of ballots for Sulaimani. Among Kurdish parties, the KDP holds the most seats in the Iraqi parliament and in Kurdistan’s parliament.

Six parties – Gorran, Komal, KIU, CDJ, the Kurdistan Islamic Movement (IKM), and the Communist Party – have rejected the result and called for a complete do-over. They are planning to present evidence of irregularities to the US consulate in Erbil on Wednesday.

The New Generation has also filed a lawsuit with the IHEC in a Baghdad court, arguing the release of unofficial preliminary results is a violation.

Fifteen days after final election results are released, the new parliament must hold its first session during which the speaker will be chosen. A new president will be elected within three days of the legislature convening and the president will then ask the largest parliamentary bloc to form a cabinet.

Traditionally, the speaker of the parliament has been a Sunni Arab, the prime minister a Shiite, and the president a Kurd.

Sadr and Erbil have frequently taken a similar stance with respect to Iraqi politics over the past decade, including opposition to Nouri al-Maliki during his tenure as prime minister.

There are nine minority seats in Iraq — 5 for Christians (Baghdad, Nineveh, Kirkuk, Duhok, Erbil), 1 for Yezidis (Nineveh), 1 for Shabaks (Nineveh), 1 for Mandaeans (Baghdad), 1 for Faylis (Wasit).

Voter turnout was 55 percent in Duhok, 48 percent in Erbil, and 40 percent in Sulaimani, according to the IHEC. Across Iraq's 18 provinces, it was 44.52 percent.

This is a developing story... Last updated at 9:53 p.m.

http://www.rudaw.net/english/kurdistan/150520185

[Piling]

KDP did not have to 'take' Duhok, Duhok IS KDP

Again troubles between PUK and Gorran, frauds, etc. PUK is still embarrassing for Kurdistan. I wonder how it dares to be candidate in Kirkuk, but obviously Arab parties are not strong enough to beat it.

About as Sadr's victories : Abadi deserved it. Now Iran has a better champion and will get rid of him.

[Anthea]

Gunmen lay siege to Kirkuk voting stations

Iraqi electoral commission says armed men in Kirkuk are putting pressure on election workers to change results

Gunmen have laid siege to several polling stations in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk, trapping election workers and blocking the vote count four days after a national election.

Riyadh al-Badran, head of the electoral commission, said on Wednesday that the gunmen - whom he did not identify - were putting pressure on the commission to change the election results.

"The employees of the commission are in a hostage situation," he told a news conference.

He called on Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi to protect the election team.

About 90 percent of the votes from Kirkuk, an ethnically-mixed oil province at the heart of a long-running dispute with the Kurds, have been counted, Badran said.

But election workers have been unable to send results from 186 ballot boxes, he said.

The initial results from Kirkuk indicated a win for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a historical Iraqi Kurdish party, the commission said on Tuesday.

But the Turkmen and Arab communities have disputed those results and called for a recount.

The dispute in Kirkuk, as well as in Kurdish Duhok, where local parties have contested the results, have delayed the final nationwide results.

Badran said that figure should be announced in the next two days.

The Sairoon Alliance of Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr appears poised to win Iraq's parliamentary elections. Reports indicate that Sairoon - an alliance between the Sadrist Movement and Iraq's Communist Party - won more than 1.3 million votes, gaining 54 in a 329-seat parliament.

Iran-backed Shia militia chief Hadi al-Amiri's Fatah (Conquest) coalition was in second place, while Abadi's Nasr (Victory) coalition is in third.

Saturday's election was the first since the defeat of Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).

Turnout fell far short of previous elections with only 44.5 percent of registered voters participating. The turnout was 15 percent lower than in 2014.

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/05/ ... 37909.html

[Anthea]

Votes from 103 polling stations in Iraq and Kurdistan cancelled

In a written statement regarding complaints and appeals against the results of May 12 elections in Iraq and Kurdistan region, the Independent High Electoral Commission announced cancelling the votes at 103 polling stations.

Accordingly, the Commission received 1,436 complaints after the country’s parliamentary election on May 12.

The commission said 33 complaints were marked as red, resulting in the cancelation of votes from 103 polling stations in Baghdad, Hewler (Erbil), Nineveh, Anbar and Saladin.

The Commission added that political parties have the right to appeal against the objection results.

Following the parliamentary elections, the Change Movement (Gorran), Kurdistan Islamic Group (KIG), Kurdistan Islamic Union (KIU), Coalition for Democracy and Justice, Kurdistan Islamic Movement and the Kurdistan Communist Party as well as New Generation rejected the results.

Turkmen and Arab lists also rejected the election results in Kirkuk, where the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) took a lead in the election.

According to the election results released by the electoral commission, Moqtada al-Sadr’s Sairoon bloc came in first, Fateh bloc led by Hadi al-Amiri came in second and Haider al-Abadi’s bloc, Nasr, placed third.