IHEC members refused to comment on the recount until they have completely concluded the recount process but Iyad Al-Kinani, a member of the Commissioners Council, said that the vote recount may take more than ten days given that it will include 11 voting stations in Baghdad.

He added that the results or changes that may arise prior to completion of the recount cannot be anticipated and it will be days before a proper resolution.

The Baghdad recount was ordered after demands by the incumbent Prime Minister, Nouri al-Maliki, whose party actually won the most seats in the capital, though came second nationally. He believes the electronic counting system is unreliable and that counting should be done manually. The recount is taking place under observation of members of Iraq’s political parties and international observers.

Al-Kinani said that the process will include special and general voting in all the ballot boxes in Baghdad’s voting stations. The election results will not be endorsed until all appeals lodged by the political blocs are settled by the Judicial Commission (205 appeals out of 337 have been already rejected).

Most of the blocs welcomed the recount with reservations. Iyad Allawi, who heads the Iraqiya bloc, was pleased to hear of the recount, though other members of his bloc expressed fears of fraud and manipulation during the manual recount. They believe the decision to launch a manual vote must be preceded with assurances to Iraqiya and other blocs that that the boxes will be kept safe from any potential interference.

Iraqiya wining candidate Salman Al-Jamili said that his list supports a fair investigation that brings justice to any party that felt victim of irregularities but emphasised that he believe the Judicial Commission’s decision to launch a recount in Baghdad was the result of pressure coming directly from the Prime Minister.

Al-Jamili was sceptical of the authorities conducting the recount and whether it will be possible to prevent manipulation of ballot papers, especially given that any scratching on any paper will result in it being declared spoiled.

The State of Law Coalition sees no reason for concern, citing the fact that IHEC is in charge of the boxes and members of the government have no access to them.

“The ballot boxes are in safe keeping by the Higher Electoral Commission and the manual vote recount has been launched under the supervision of observers from all the country’s political entities. Hence all blocs should be satisfied with the court decision,” said Abdel Hadi Al-Hassani, a leader in the State of Law Coalition.

He added: “We believe that the decision was fair and just for everyone and not just our list.”

The Iraq Unity List (which failed to win any seat in parliament) headed by Interior Minister Jawad Al-Boulani said that the manual recount will eliminate everyone’s doubts. The list lodged many appeals with IHEC, regarding numerous deliberate and accidental mistakes that they believe occurred during the first count.

Mohammed al-Samaraie, a prominent member of the list, underlined that a delay in the announcement of the final results for ten days is better than rushing to announce results surrounded by doubt, which may cause instability for years to come.

Election results in Baghdad showed the State of Law coalition headed the polls with 26 seats, while Iraqiya came second with 24. They were followed by the Iraqi National Coalition with 17 seats and the Reconciliation Front headed by the Iraqi Islamic Party with just 1 seat.

Currently, it is impossible to predict any change in the election result and it is unlikely that this will change before the conclusion of the recount.

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