I am shocked! — shocked! — that there would be allegations of vote fraud from Sunnis in Iraq. This underscores the little-noted fact that there is little trust and virtually no common group identity among the various groups identified as “Iraqis.” From AP, with thanks to the Constantinopolitan Irredentist:
BAGHDAD, Iraq – Sunni Arabs alleged Tuesday that last week’s parliamentary elections were fraudulent, especially in Baghdad province, and they said if the irregularities are not corrected, new balloting must be held in Iraq’s largest electoral district.
An electoral commission official said more than 1,000 complaints from the Dec. 15 vote were being investigated, but only 20 were “very serious,” and were not expected to change the overall outcome. Final results will be announced in early January, he said, which would delay formation of a new government.
The United Iraqi Alliance “” a Shiite party “” won about 59 percent of the vote, according to returns from 89 percent of ballot boxes counted in Baghdad province. The Sunni Arab Iraqi Accordance Front received about 19 percent, and the Iraqi National List headed by Ayad Allawi, a secular-minded Shiite, got about 14 percent.
The general director of Iraq’s electoral commission, Adel al-Lami, told The Associated Press that officials didn’t announce the results of the remaining 11 percent because of complaints of irregularities. He refused to elaborate.
The Iraqi Accordance Front, a coalition of three major Sunni groups, rejected those results, warning of “grave repercussions on security and political stability” if the mistakes were not corrected.