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February 13, 2005 |
By JASON KEYSER Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb 13, 2005 — Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims won nearly half the votes in the nation's Jan. 30 election, giving the long-oppressed group significant power but not enough to form a government on their own.
The Shiites likely will have to form a coalition in the 275-member National Assembly with the other top vote-getters the Kurds and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's list to push through their agenda and select a president and prime minister. The president and two vice presidents must be elected by a two-thirds majority.
The Shiite-dominated ticket received more than 4 million votes, or about 48 percent of the total cast, Iraqi election officials said. A Kurdish alliance was second with 2.175 million votes, or 26 percent, and Allawi's list was third with about 1.168 million, or 13.8 percent.
"Until now there is no estimation regarding how many seats the political parties will get, when the counts are final the number of seats will be divided according to the number of votes," commission member Adel al-Lami said.
Elsewhere Sunday, insurgents attacked a U.S. convoy and a government building near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, leaving at least four people dead, hospital workers said. Two Iraqi National Guard troops were also killed while trying to defuse a roadside bomb.
Of Iraq's 14 million eligible voters, 8,456,266 cast ballots for 111 candidate lists, the commission said. That represents a turnout of about 60 percent, several points higher than the predicted 57 percent.
"This is a new birth for Iraq," commission spokesman Farid Ayar said.
The figures also indicate that many Sunni Arabs stayed at home on election day, with only 17,893 votes or 2 percent cast in the National Assembly race in Anbar province, a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim insurgency.
In Ninevah province, which includes the third-largest city, Mosul, only 17 percent of the voters participated in the National Assembly race and 14 percent voted in the provincial council contests.
A ticket headed by the country's president Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, won only about 150,000 votes less than 2 percent. A list headed by Sunni elder statesman Adnan Pachachi took only 12,000 votes or 0.1 percent.
Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures
By JASON KEYSER Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD, Iraq Feb 13, 2005 — Iraq's majority Shiite Muslims won nearly half the votes in the nation's Jan. 30 election, giving the long-oppressed group significant power but not enough to form a government on their own.
The Shiites likely will have to form a coalition in the 275-member National Assembly with the other top vote-getters the Kurds and Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's list to push through their agenda and select a president and prime minister. The president and two vice presidents must be elected by a two-thirds majority.
The Shiite-dominated ticket received more than 4 million votes, or about 48 percent of the total cast, Iraqi election officials said. A Kurdish alliance was second with 2.175 million votes, or 26 percent, and Allawi's list was third with about 1.168 million, or 13.8 percent.
"Until now there is no estimation regarding how many seats the political parties will get, when the counts are final the number of seats will be divided according to the number of votes," commission member Adel al-Lami said.
Elsewhere Sunday, insurgents attacked a U.S. convoy and a government building near the northern Iraqi city of Mosul, leaving at least four people dead, hospital workers said. Two Iraqi National Guard troops were also killed while trying to defuse a roadside bomb.
Of Iraq's 14 million eligible voters, 8,456,266 cast ballots for 111 candidate lists, the commission said. That represents a turnout of about 60 percent, several points higher than the predicted 57 percent.
"This is a new birth for Iraq," commission spokesman Farid Ayar said.
The figures also indicate that many Sunni Arabs stayed at home on election day, with only 17,893 votes or 2 percent cast in the National Assembly race in Anbar province, a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim insurgency.
In Ninevah province, which includes the third-largest city, Mosul, only 17 percent of the voters participated in the National Assembly race and 14 percent voted in the provincial council contests.
A ticket headed by the country's president Ghazi al-Yawer, a Sunni Arab, won only about 150,000 votes less than 2 percent. A list headed by Sunni elder statesman Adnan Pachachi took only 12,000 votes or 0.1 percent.
Copyright © 2005 ABC News Internet Ventures
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