Government hails poll as fair as Sunnis call for recount

In the wake of the 15 October referendum on the proposed Iraqi national constitution, government officials say that voting procedures were fair and that a recount is unwarranted. Nevertheless, Sunni communities are demanding a revision of ballots, pointing to allegations of voting irregularities in certain Sunni districts. According to official results, 78 percent of Iraqi voters – out of a total turnout of 70 percent – voted yes to the new charter. Farid Ayar, spokesman for the Independent Electoral Commission in Iraq, said the results were legitimate and that there had been no suggestion of electoral tampering during voting process. He added that the UN, which is advising the Iraqi government on the political process, was closely monitoring developments. He went on to refute Sunni claims that the voting process had been flawed. “The Sunnis complained that there was wrongdoing,” said Ayar. “But in reality, they couldn’t get what they wanted, so they had to come up with accusations to explain why they couldn’t get three Sunni provinces to vote against the constitution,” Ayar said. According to the rules of the referendum, the draft constitution would have been voided if two thirds of the voters in at least three of Iraq’s 18 governorates had voted against it. The rejectionists got the required numbers in the western Sunni provinces of Anbar and Sallahuddin, but in Ninevah and Diyala – also considered Sunni heartland – the “yes” vote took the day. Throughout the tangled constitution-drafting process, Sunnis have consistently objected to the document, fearing they would lose political power to traditional rivals, the Kurds and the Shi'ites, in the country’s north and south. Other sticking points were related to women’s rights and the implementation of Shari'at, or Islamic, law. Despite the government’s confirmation of fair play, however, many Sunnis are insistent that voting in some areas was rigged. “Voting was impossible in many parts of the Nineveh governorate – such as Talafar and Haweejah – for security reasons,” said Saleh Al-Mutalek, a spokesperson for the government’s Sunni representation, who was petitioning for a recount in the Nineveh and southern Basra governorates. “But the government didn’t care, because they got what they wanted by faking results and forcing an unfair constitution on us,” Al-Mutalek maintained. Despite Sunni apprehensions, however, the UN was quick to note its acceptance and approval of the document. “The Iraqi people have made their decision and have approved the draft constitution,” said a Spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in an 26 October statement. “With the adoption of the constitution, Iraq can now move forward to the next step in its political transition process – the holding of national elections on 15 December.” On the streets of Baghdad, though, reactions were mixed. “I didn’t vote because the results were going to be a faked in any case,” said Baghdad resident Sua’ad Rawi. “The US wants the referendum to be approved, and for this reason, the Nineveh result was exactly what they wanted.” By contrast, 34-year-old Shi'ite Salah Hussein, also a resident of the capital, believed the election results were fair. “This is the first time Shi'ites have had rights in this country, and now people want to say it was fake. What’s true is that we wanted the constitution – and now it will become law.”