Iraq Press Roundup

Threats of disobedience in Maysan

Several political candidates in the electoral pool of southern Maysan province said they would launch a protest if their appeals to the results were marginalized, Shabab al-Iraq reported Friday.

Several parties had issued statements questioning the integrity of the preliminary results in the Jan. 31 provincial elections. Various appeals are before the Independent High Electoral Commission of Iraq for review.

Ali Hussein with the Shiite Fadhila Party said he and several other political figures would stage demonstrations if their demands for appeal were not taken seriously.

He said there were scores of officers who ran in the elections and claim to hold official documents showing various violations of the provincial elections law.

Fadhila scored last in the provincial elections in Maysan with just 3.2 percent of the vote. The State of Law list of Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki topped the results with 17.7 percent.

IHEC is expected to announce the official results Feb. 23.

A new political map for Iraq?

Influential cleric Abdul Aziz al-Hakim praised the national efforts needed to support the democratic process during the provincial elections, al-Bayyna of the Iraqi Hezbollah Party reported Friday.

Hakim, leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, expressed his appreciation for the role that religious institutions and national political figures played in encouraging the Iraqi people to take part in the elections.

He called on the parties that emerged victorious in the Jan. 31 elections to do whatever is necessary to bring prosperity to the war-torn country.

Iraqi Vice President Adel Abdul Mehdi, a member of SIIC, joined the council's vice president, Ammar al-Hakim, in stressing not only the national factors but also the religious influence of their party.

The Al-Mehrab Martyr list represented SIIC in the provincial elections.

Fadhila Party claims alliance with Dawa, Sadrists

Fadhila Party leader Hassan al-Shammari announced Friday an alliance with the Shiite Dawa Party and the Sadrist Movement of Moqtada Sadr, al-Iraq lil-Kul reported.

Shammari said all three parties had entered into negotiations on forming an alliance with the focus on advocating a unified stance for the Iraqi nation.

He stressed the three parties would stand firm to the belief that a strong central government was vital to the country.

The Shiite leader said there was no consideration given to sectarian or ethnic issues when negotiating the terms of the alliance.

Shammari, meanwhile, said there was no possibility his party would ally with the United Iraqi Alliance, a slate led by the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.

Fadhila and the Sadrist Movement withdrew from the UIA in 2007, claiming the coalition had put too much emphasis on sectarian issues and put the leadership in the hands of one party.

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(Edited by Daniel Graeber)