Iraqi Shi‘ites dismissed allegations that fraud helped them win last week‘s election. Following Friday‘s show of strength by Sunnis, who marched through the streets of the capital in their tens of thousands calling for a rerun of the December 15 vote, the country‘s main Shi‘ite coalition hit back on Saturday.
They accused their opponents of being sore losers and insisted the country‘s next prime minister should come from within their own ranks. "There will be no retreat and no rerun of the election," said Jawad al-Maliki, a senior member of one of the main parties in the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), the Shi‘ite alliance which won the vote. "In the end we have to accept the results and the will of the people."
Unofficial results from the poll indicated the UIA took 59 percent of the vote in Baghdad compared with just 19 percent for their nearest Sunni rivals. In response, at least two dozen Sunni parties suggested the results were fixed. On its part, the Electoral Commission, with U.N. backing, has ruled out any rerun. Of hundreds of complaints only 20 were rated "red," or serious enough to affect a result, officials said.
Meanwhile, there has already been an increase in shootings and bombings. Ten Iraqi troops died in an attack on their post on Friday and a suicide bomber attacked a Shi‘ite mosque. On Saturday at least nine Iraqis died and police found seven bodies riddled with bullets in southern Baghdad.
