Allawi inches ahead of Iraq PM in vote count: results

March 20 / 2010

BAGHDAD (AFP) – Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's main rival Iyad Allawi has inched ahead of the incumbent in the nationwide vote tally, updated results from Iraq's general election showed on Saturday.

Allawi's secular Iraqiya bloc led Maliki's State of Law Alliance by 7,928 votes, according to new figures released by Iraq's election commission and based on 92 percent of ballots counted.

Overall, Iraqiya garnered 2,543,632 votes compared with State of Law's 2,535,704. The Iraqi National Alliance, a coalition led by Shiite religious groups, was in third place with 1,915,654.

The nationwide vote count is an indication of the tight race between the two main rivals, but it was not immediately clear how their tallies would affect the number of seats they win in parliament.

Iraq's proportional representation system makes it unlikely for any single group to clinch the 163 seats required to form a government on its own.

Complete election results are expected in the coming days. Final results -- after all complaints have been investigated and ruled upon -- are likely by the end of the month.

Allawi told the BBC on Saturday that his priority would be to "purge the armed forces and secret services of sectarian elements" if he should form Iraq's next government.

The police force was "riddled with sectarianism," he charged, pinning much of the blame on Maliki with whom he said he would refuse to work in a coalition unless the current premier changed his outlook.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100320/wl_mideast_afp/iraqvoteresults_20100320200716