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Iraqis Count Votes in Election

   VOA News 08 March 2010
   Electoral  workers sit in front of piles of ballot boxes at a counting
   center in Baghdad

Photo: AP

   Electoral  workers sit in front of piles of ballot boxes at a counting
   center in Baghdad, Iraq, 08 Mar 2010

   Iraq  is counting votes Monday, a day after millions braved threats of
   insurgent  violence  to  participate  in  Iraq's  second parliamentary
   election since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion.
   Iraqi  officials  estimate  the turnout in Sunday's vote at between 55
   and 60 percent. They say early vote tallies show the Shi'ite-led State
   of  Law  faction  of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki leading in Shi'ite
   regions  of  the  country.  Official  results will not be released for
   several days.
   The  main  challengers  to  Mr.  Maliki's  faction  include his former
   Shi'ite  religious  allies  in  the  Iraqi  National  Alliance and the
   secular  Shi'ite-Sunni  Iraqiya  faction  led by former Prime Minister
   Iyad Allawi.
   The  grouping that wins the most seats in Iraq's 325-member parliament
   will  nominate  a prime minister. But no single faction is expected to
   win  an  outright  majority.  The  largest  faction  will  need to put
   together a coalition government, a process that could take months.
   Insurgents  tried to disrupt the election with rocket and bomb attacks
   that  killed  38  people.  U.S. President Barack Obama said Iraqis had
   shown  courage  and  resilience  by  defying  threats to advance their
   democracy.
   U.S.  Defense  Secretary Robert Gates praised Iraqi forces assigned to
   protect  voters, saying election-day violence appeared to be less than
   expected.  U.N.  envoy to Iraq Ad Melkert called the vote a triumph of
   reason over confrontation and violence.
   Former  Prime  Minister  Allawi  questioned  the  credibility  of  the
   commission  that  managed  the  election. He accused the commission of
   failing to accurately and objectively check and count the votes.
   Iraq's   next   government  faces  the  challenge  of  overseeing  the
   withdrawal  of  U.S.  troops,  scheduled to be completed by the end of
   next year.

   Some information for this report provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.

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