BAGHDAD — Iraq’s electoral commission affirmed on Sunday the narrow victory of a Sunni-backed bloc in the March vote after a partial recount undercut the Shiite prime minister’s claims of fraud in the tally.
The result was a setback for Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who came in second to former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi by a small margin, 89-91. But his alliance with another Shiite bloc still gives him a strong chance of holding on to power for another four years.
The recount as well as other challenges to the March 7 election result have prevented the seating of the new 325-member parliament and raised fears that the extended period of political bickering will give rise to a new wave of violence as insurgents try to exploit the political vacuum as U.S. troops prepare to go home.
Neither coalition won the 163 seats required to govern outright.
However, al-Maliki’s coalition hammered out an agreement with another Shiite bloc, the Iranian-backed Iraqi National Alliance. Together, the two are only four seats short of needed majority and, if the coalition holds together, are almost certain to form the next government, possibly cutting out Allawi’s party altogether.
The prime minister’s coalition appeared Sunday to be weighing its next move. A State of Law spokesman, Khalid al-Assadi, said the bloc was considering whether to appeal.
But government spokesman, Ali al-Dabbagh of al-Maliki’s State of Law, said on Al-Arabiyah TV that they would accept the results “for the sake of starting the formation of the government.”
Allawi’s coalition welcomed the recount.
“We are happy with the results that are compatible to the previous ones,” said Maysoun al-Damlouji, a spokeswoman for the Allawi’s bloc.
The election results must still be ratified by the Supreme Court and other challenges that have delayed the formation of a new government also need to be resolved.
The fact that more than two months have passed without even an agreed upon result of the election, let alone a new government, has raised fears political tensions will spill over into violence.
In the roughly six months it took to seat a government following the December 2005 election, sectarian violence exploded.
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