IRAQI ELECTIONS UPDATE No. 3 SUSPICIOUS DELAY IN ANNOUNCING POLL RESULTS

There have been suspicious delays in announcing the election results in Iraq, amid fears that extensive efforts are underway to distort the real outcome of the poll
Speaking from the European Parliament in Strasbourg, Struan Stevenson MEP, President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq said
“On Monday, March 8, the election commission in Iraq announced that by Tuesday, 30% of ballots would be counted and the results would be made public. But, regrettably, the commission refrained from announcing the results as the day closed. I now understand that the count has been completed, but still no results have been announced. This makes me deeply suspicious that attempts are going on behind the scenes to manipulate the outcome of the poll. Following the illegal expulsion of over 500 secular, anti-sectarian candidates on trumped-up de-Baathification charges and endless accounts of violence, intimidation and blatant fraud throughout the poll, I fear that the mullah’s regime in Tehran may now be trying to install a puppet Prime Minister in Iraq

“I have been telephoned and emailed by many people since the polls closed, including journalists, police officers and even a voting station director. All of them gave me disturbing reports about attempts to distort the election results. They also view the delay in announcing the results as ominous and believe that ballot papers and ballot boxes are being tampered with. One thing is clear, however, in almost all of their messages to me, they emphasized that the delay is a very important sign, indicating the victory of Iraqi nationalist forces over what the Iranian regime is seeking to achieve inside Iraq

“The widespread fraud which took place during the elections and the delay in announcing the results, not only question the legitimacy of the election but also amount to a plan to drive Iraq into crisis. The United Nations, U.S. and European Union must robustly confront any distortion of the Iraqi people’s votes and prevent that country from plunging back into sectarian violence”

Struan Stevenson, MEP
President, Delegation for relations with Iraq
The European Parliament
Rue Wiertz, B-1047, Brussels