Maliki sees lead slip, claims fraud

BAGHDAD, March 17 (UPI) -- Former Iraqi Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's bloc leads the alliance of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki in the country's voting, election officials said.

However, Maliki's bloc was expected to maintain its lead in its expected number of seats in the 325-seat parliament because the alliance is ahead in some of the country's largest provinces, CNN reported Wednesday

With about 80 percent of the vote tallied, Maliki's State of Law coalition was leading in seven of Iraq's 18 provinces, including two of the largest -- Baghdad, where 68 seats are contested, and Basra, where 24 seats are at stake. Allawi's coalition led in five predominantly Sunni provinces, including Nineveh and its 31 seats.

With his lead shrinking, Maliki accused the electoral commission of manipulating results and demanded a recount in Baghdad, The Washington Post reported. The commission has been slammed with hundreds of accusations of fraud.

"It seems there are some who want to minimize the difference between the number of votes received by the State of Law and another bloc," said Ali al-Adeeb, a candidate in Maliki's coalition. "If this matter is not taken care of, we will resort to announcing who is behind this manipulation."

The High Electoral Commission reported Tuesday Allawi's Iraqiya coalition leads Maliki's bloc overall by about 9,000 votes of the more than 4.2 million cast for the two leading slates in the March 7 election.

Expected to make a legislative comeback are followers of Moqtada al-Sadr, a radical cleric who led the Shiite insurgency against the U.S. occupation, The New York Times reported. Supporters and opponents said they think the Sadrists could win more than 40 seats, making them the clear majority in the Iraqi National Alliance, a predominantly Shiite coalition and rival of Maliki's, observers said.

If the numbers are borne out, the Sadrists could have a bloc about the same size as the Kurds, who have wielded influence in governing coalitions since 2005.

"As our representation in parliament increases, so will our power," said Asma al-Musawi, a Sadrist lawmaker. "We will soon play the role that we have been given."