Two Front-Runners Claim Victory as Iraqis Await Election Results

The final tally from Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Iraq hasn’t been announced yet, but that didn’t stop Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and his opponent, Ayad Allawi, from claiming victory for their respective teams. However, their winning attitudes may have less to do with clairvoyance than with holding on to their support bases, according to the Times Online.  —KA

Times Online:

The authorities delayed the announcement of the results amid fears that publishing incomplete and even fractionally incorrect preliminary data could affect the horse-trading between parties and potential coalition partners that has already started.

Mr al-Maliki has made many enemies in Iraq’s political elite during his time in office and is likely to lose leadership of his Dawa party should he fails to remain in office.

Mr Allawi, a Shia who was once a member of Saddam’s Sunni-dominated Baath party, is relying on a coalition of secular Shias and pragmatic Sunnis to win power. But if they sense he cannot get them into government his entire political movement is likely to dissolve.

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AP / Khalid Mohammed

I win! No, I win!: Former Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi waves a hand and a flag during a campaign rally in Baghdad last week.