Iraq’s parliament speaker calls for election rerun, after fire hits ballot boxes warehouse
BAGHDAD: Iraqi Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi said on Sunday that the burning of a storage site in Baghdad where ballot boxes were kept was part of a plot to harm Iraq’s democratic process, the first government indication the incident was deliberate.
“Burning election warehouses … is a plot to harm the nation and its democracy. We will take all necessary measures and strike with an iron fist all who undermine the security of the nation and its citizens,” Abadi said in a statement.
The storage site housing half of Baghdad’s ballot boxes from Iraq’s parliamentary election in May caught fire, just days after parliament demanded a nationwide recount of votes, drawing calls for the election to be re-run.
An Interior Ministry spokesman said later the fire was confined to one of four warehouses at the site. State television said the ballot boxes were being moved to another location under heavy security.
Authorities did not say whether they believed the fire was deliberately set, but its timing undermined the results of an election whose validity was already in doubt. Fewer than 45 percent of voters cast a ballot, a record low, and allegations of fraud began almost immediately after the vote.
Prime Minister Haider Al-Abadi, whose electoral alliance came third in the election, said on Tuesday that a government investigation had found serious violations and blamed Iraq’s independent elections commission for most of them.
Parliament mandated a full manual recount the next day. The Independent High Elections Commission had used electronic vote- counting devices to tally the results.
A recount could undermine nationalist cleric Moqtada Al-Sadr, a long-time adversary of the United States whose bloc won the largest number of seats in the election. One of Sadr’s top aides expressed concern that some parties were trying to sabotage the cleric’s victory.
Salim Al-Jabouri, the outgoing speaker of parliament, said the fire showed the election should be repeated.
“The crime of burning ballot-box storage warehouses in the Rusafa area is a deliberate act, a planned crime, aimed at hiding instances of fraud and manipulation of votes, lying to the Iraqi people and changing their will and choices,” he said in a statement.
Jabouri narrowly lost his seat in May and had been one of the strongest proponents of a recount before the fire. His call was seconded by Vice President Iyad Allawi, the leader of the electoral alliance Jabouri ran as part of.
Top Sadr aide Dhiaa Al-Asadi said the fire was a plot aimed at forcing a repeat of the election and hiding fraud.
“Whoever burned the election equipment and document storage site had two goals: either canceling the election or destroying the stuffed ballots counted among the results,” he tweeted.
JUDICIAL TAKEOVER
The fire took place at a Trade Ministry site in Baghdad where the election commission stored the ballot boxes from Al-Rusafa, the half of Baghdad on the eastern side of the Tigris river. Baghdad is Iraq’s most populous province, accounting for 71 seats out of the Iraqi parliament’s 329.
The site was divided into four warehouses, said Interior Ministry spokesman Major General Saad Maan. Only one — housing electronic equipment and documents — had burned down, he said.
Firefighters were trying to stop the fire from spreading to the remaining three warehouses, where the ballot boxes are stored, he said.
“It is possible there were also some ballot boxes in the warehouse that caught fire, but most of the important boxes are in the three warehouses, where the fire has been controlled,” he said in a video message from the site of the fire.
The law mandating a manual recount also mandated the board of the election commission be replaced by judges. Earlier on Sunday, the Supreme Judicial Council, Iraq’s highest judicial authority, named the judges who will take over replace the commissioners.
The council also named judges to replace the commission’s local chiefs in each of Iraq’s 18 provinces, another measure mandated by parliament.
The board of commissioners has said it would appeal against the law forcing the recount.
Article Credit: Arabnews.com
BGG ~ Why would this be Sadr?? He loves his position and has nothing to fear from a recount… especially if these accusations about the IHEC (or HEC – whatever they are calling it this week) are true and we get an unbiased panel of 9 judges instead.
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CDiller ~ Its what I’ve said all along. Trump has done what they thought could not happen. He took Obama’s secret cash from Iran. Now Iran’s only hope to continue their terror supporting agendas is in Iraq for the continuation of the money being funneled to Iran.
Sadr represents Trumps counter part in Iraq. The people have voted even through severe threats from Iran and from Maliki’s block. We are seeing the results and the death of Maliki and Iran’s hopes and dreams.
We are seeing them acting out of desparation… burning mentioned above. Next they will attack Sadr and Abadi in open war. They will lose. MALIKI will be tried and executed. Iran will be dealt with. The Dinar will rise. Watch and see.
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Iraq’s prime minister speaks of a conspiracy threatening the country
Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi said a fire at the ballot box store in Baghdad was part of a plot to undermine the country’s democratic process in the first government sign that the incident was deliberate.
“The burning of electoral stores represents a plan to strike the country and its democratic approach,” Abbadi said in a statement, adding that “we will take the necessary measures and strike with an iron fist against anyone who wishes to undermine the security of the country and its citizens.”
The Independent Electoral Commission for elections to re-counting and sorting manually in the whole of Iraq , and the abolition of the work of accelerating the electronic results.
The Iraqi parliamentary elections took place on 12 May last, the system of electronic voting, which was applied for the first time in the country, which caused great controversy and criticism after the announcement of the results.
Political blocs and figures questioned the results of the elections, prompting the parliament to set up a mini-fact-finding commission two weeks ago to consider allegations of violations that accompanied the electoral process, including members of the legal committees, immigration and parliamentary integrity.
And replaced the list of “Saron” sponsored by the Sadrist movement in the first place, followed by the list of the opening led by the leader of the popular crowd, Hadi Amiri second, while the coalition of victory led by Prime Minister Haider Abadi III.
Article Credit: arabic.sputniknews.com
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Chattels (Dinar Guru) – Quote: “Legal team replaces Iraq High Election Commission & supervises hand recount of votes from 12 May. This will take 3 weeks. (Authorities of current government end 30 June & if no new government formed, a temporary government with limited powers takes over)” So, at this point there has been no ratification of the election results by the Iraqi Judiciary. The timeline for government formation has not begun until the act of ratification. It appears that it may be after June 30 until the completion of the recount and the election results can be ratified. Iraq will have a caretaker government beginning about July 1st. It is unlikely that Iraq will have a new government until late August or early September, IMO. …I have opined that the first quarter of 2019 seems like the earliest date for completion of monetary reform and the realization of any value for us. Not a prediction, but nothing likely before then is my sense of it.
Read more: http://www.dinarupdates.com/observer/
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Nujaifi: Parliament corrected the mistake of choosing thieves to run the Commission
The leader of the coalition of Iraqi decision, Athil Nujaifi, that the Electoral Commission for elections, led by a group of “thieves”, working for pay in some political blocs.
Al-Nujaifi explained in an exclusive interview (Baghdad today) that “the amendment of the law of the elections of the House of Representatives, is a reform of the error occurred in the parliament previously,” noting that “this error is chosen by the Commission led by a group of thieves.”
He added that “the people who managed the Commission, are working with pay to some political blocs,” pointing out that “the House of Representatives is now trying to correct what he did a big mistake, and we are supporters of amending the election law.”
Nujaifi called on political leaders to “raise the level of responsibility and start consultations to preserve the security of the Iraqi state,” saying: “We will go to the stage of constitutional vacuum, after the House of Representatives stopped the end of June.”
On June 5, 2018, the Council of Ministers approved the recommendations of the ministerial committee to investigate the violations that took place in the elections, which confirmed the occurrence of major violations and recommended several points, the most important of which are the cancellation of the results of the outside and the manual counting of part of the results, UNHCR officials to travel abroad until the completion of investigations and proved not to be involved in the manipulation of results or fraud.
On June 6, 2018, the House of Representatives voted on all the provisions of the Third Amendment to the Law on the Elections of the Council of Representatives, which included “the manual re-counting of the results of the elections” and “the suspension of the work of the Board of Commissioners and the directors of the provincial offices of the Commission and replacing them with nine judges “He said.
Article Credit: Baghdadtoday.news
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Urgent Election Commission reveals the date of counting and manual counting of the results
(Baghdad: al-Furat News) The Electoral Commission revealed on Sunday the date for the start of counting and sorting the results of the elections of the House of Representatives, which took place on 12 May last.
A member of the Board of Commissioners {Said Kakaai}, “The counting and counting of voters’ votes will begin on Wednesday or Thursday next, adding that the process will include all the provinces of Iraq, including the provinces of Kurdistan.”
He added that “the process of manual counting and counting of voters will be under the supervision of judges for each province,” pointing out that “9 districts have been assigned instead of the Commission to oversee the amendment of the election law, which was approved by the House of Representatives recently.”
“The Supreme Judicial Council will determine on Sunday, the place of counting and sorting by hand,” he said, adding that “10,000 employees will count and count more than 10 million votes in the 53 funds for the elections that took place on 12 May last, under the supervision of the United Nations.”
Article Credit: Alforatnews.com
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Kaperoni (Dinar Guru) – Some good news today if you call it that, it looks like the manual recount is only going to take about 10 days and not 3 months as originally predicted. Personally I don’t know what the desire for manual recount is for. It’s not going to change the outcome of who becomes prime-minister because that is based on political blocks unifying to form an alliance. At best, a political block may pick up a seat or two in parliament. But all this nonsense has been initiated by al-Maliki and his block and Salim Jubouri the parliament speaker who both lost pretty handily in the elections. What also appears to have happened is in the last day or so a large alliance has been formed consisting of a majority of parliamentary seats. This Alliance does not include al-Maliki or his state of law coalition. [post 1 of 2….stay tuned]
Read more: http://www.dinarupdates.com/observer/
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Three-way alliance emerging in Iraqi gov’t talks
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – Three political blocs have made progress in forging an alliance as the next Iraqi government takes shape.
Muqtada al-Sadr’s Sayirun alliance, the National Hikma or Wisdom Movement led by Ammar al-Hakim, and the al-Wataniya list led by Ayad Allawi collectively secured 95 seats in the May 12 parliamentary election.
“There is a profound understanding with the Sayirun alliance and Wataniya list and we have reached some basic elements,” Abdullah Zaidi, a member of the Hikma Movement’s negotiating team, told Rudaw.
“The meetings are ongoing and we have not closed our door to other blocs including Kurds, Sunnis, and Shiites,” he said.
He added they want the next Iraqi government take “a nationwide structure.”
The Sayirun alliance is a unique meeting of Shiite cleric Sadr, the Communist Party, and secularists. The Hikma group is Shiite and Wataniya is Sunni.
Leaders of the three parties have signed an agreement.
Though there was a flurry of meetings between winners and losers in the days after the vote, this appears to be the first concrete step taken towards forming a sizeable bloc.
The three parties are developing ties as the election results are in doubt. The parliament has ordered a manual recount of votes.
Some parties, including the PUK, have already warned of growing tensions in Iraq after the parliament also decided to cancel the votes of the diaspora, IDPs, and the Peshmerga.
Article Credit: Rudaw.net
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Kaperoni (Dinar Guru) – So if we’re waiting for the formation of the government to occur before any kind of monetary reform can go forward, it looks like we might be waiting an extra month or so. I think we were all hoping for the formation of the government to occur by the end of June and to coincide with the cbi’s three-month IMF requirement (June 15 or so) compliance but that looks like it might be pushed back until the end of July or August. If so we have to hope that the CBI can continue to maintain spread within 2% or less for that duration. In the meantime I am looking for some news that would indicate that the IMF has scheduled their Article IV Consultation with Iraq. I believe this will occur at the same or about the same time as the CBI’s begins monetary reform. [post 2 of 2]
Read more: http://www.dinarupdates.com/observer/
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Kaperoni (Dinar Guru) – The current rate of the Iraqi dinar 1190 is real and accurate and a result of monetary policy accomplished over several years when Shabibi was in charge it’s not artificial or program rate. The recent change in the exchange rate in year 2015 to 1186 now reflecting 1190 is real and a result of discussions between the IMF and the CBI to monitor the conditions in Iraq and the subsequent reforms. As I said before numerous times if and when the CBI accepts IMF Article VIII they will have to get off the peg and move to some type of float allowing the dinar to gradually rise based on investment and capital influx. This is no overnight event.
Read more: http://www.dinarupdates.com/observer/
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Abadi faces key decision to align with Iraq liberators
Leading Iraqi cleric Muqtada al-Sadr’s announcement of a coalition has left remaining parties with the choice of closing ranks which could reinstate Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi for another term.
The Fatah (Conquest) alliance, led by secretary general of Badr Organization Hadi al-Ameri, Abadi’s Nasr (Victory) coalition and Vice President Nouri al-Maliki’s Dawlat al-Qanoon (State of Law Coalition) are now best placed to form a coalition.
The blocs finished second, third and fourth in the May 12 elections by securing 47 and 42 and 26 parliamentary seats, respectively.
If the three groups form an alliance, they would take 115 seats, enough to form a government.
Ameri’s Badr Organization is a coalition of volunteer forces, most prominently Hashd al-Sha’abi, which ousted Takfiri terrorists from Iraq and returned security to the country.
Sadr forms alliance with two other parties
Sadr, whose list won the largest number of seats in the elections, has formed an alliance with two other blocs in an attempt to have a majority at the parliament.
A coalition agreement was reached on Friday between Sadr’s Sairoon (Marching Towards Reform) bloc, which won 54 seats in the Iraqi parliament, as well as Vice President Ayad Allawi’s Sunni-majority al-Wataniya (National) alliance and Shia cleric Ammar al-Hakim’s Hikma (Wisdom) alliance.
The parties of Allawi and Hakim finished sixth and seventh in the elections with 21 and 19 parliamentary seats, respectively.
In a statement, the newly-formed tripartite coalition expressed resolve to preserve Iraq’s national unity, implement economic reforms, encourage private sector activity and promote investment.
The coalition also underlined the need for avoiding the “politicization of the government, administrative and military sectors,” calling for an independent judiciary, “balanced” foreign relations and the swift repatriation of the displaced.
The alliance gives Sadr around 100 seats, but the number is not enough to generate a majority in the 329-member parliament.
The development came amid mounting allegations of fraud surrounding last month’s elections, which led the Iraqi parliament to vote for a manual recount, cancel expatriates’ votes and sack the electoral commission.
Iraqi lawmaker Kazem al-Shammari told the UK-based Saudi-owned Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that serious talks were underway with other parliamentary blocs to join the tripartite coalition.
“We believe that agreements with these blocs could help create the biggest bloc that would form the next government while the remaining alliances would become the opposition,” he said.
Sadr urges disarmament of all groups
Separately on Friday, Sadr called on all armed groups to lay down arms and declared that Baghdad’s Sadr City district would be a weapons-free area later this month.
“Everyone must obey the orders and not stand in the way of this initiative. Everyone should hand over their weapons without any discussion because the blood of Iraqis is more valuable to us than anything else,” he told his supporters in a statement.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry also released a statement thanking Sadr for his disarmament initiative.
Article Credit: Presstv.com
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Some interesting headlines…
Sadr’s understanding with Allawi and Hakim waiting for Abadi
End of the meeting of the three presidencies and political leaders .. Jabbouri announced the details
BGG ~ So – let me get this straight… these guys have a meeting, set out a way to verify the results and move on, then someone who was in this meeting, doesn’t like the sound of things – and immediately (the next morning) tries to set fire to the ballot boxes (which would be used to further this effort).
Here’s my take – this is as close as Maliki will ever get to having his way again. Any one thing doesn’t go his way from here on in and he’s done for good.
Allawi .. Calls for the formation of a caretaker government and the re-election
BGG ~ Of course Allawi would say that – what does he have to lose? Did anyone notice he was the largest Sunni list with around 20 seats?? …out of 365 seats.
There are way more Sunnis than that in Iraq. Why is there such low representation? Pretty easy equation.
If I had to guess – there were a bunch of people in this meeting, Maliki included, who would like a different end result than they have right now. In fact, almost every
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PUK central council member nominates himself for Iraqi presidency
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – A Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) central council member has nominated himself for the position of Iraqi presidency, which has been held by a PUK member in every parliament since 2005.
“I have nominated myself for the position of the Iraqi presidency within the PUK. If PUK is given the post, then I will have the chance because I have all the requirements of presidency,” Mohammed Sabir, a member of PUK’s central council, told Rudaw.
The central council has sent a letter to the deputy secretary general and the executive board of the PUK’s politburo, which, according to him, has expressed its support for him.
“If, following discussions, the position is given to the PUK then the final word rests with PUK’s leadership. I find myself worthy of the position,” Sabir added.
Sabir was born in 1947. He joined the PUK in 1976. He has a PhD in nuclear physics. His wife is the daughter of Ibrahim Ahmed, a founder of the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and father-in-law of PUK founder Jalal Talabani. His brother is an MP in the Kurdistan parliament.
The Iraqi presidency, a largely ceremonial role, has been held by a member of the PUK for three consecutive parliaments. It was held twice by Jalal Talabani and once by PUK co-founder Fuad Masum.
Talks over the composition of the next Iraq government are still underway. Naming the new president, prime minister, speaker, and council of ministers could take many weeks, as the government has ordered a full manual recount of votes following allegations of fraud.
Article Credit: Rudaw.net
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Click this link to join the DU “private” FaceBook Group…
https://www.facebook.com/groups/571383766355188/
(go here and ask to join… then add some Dinar Friends!!)
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Sadr: Partnership with Maliki Not an Option for Me
ERBIL – Iraqi Shi’ite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, head of Sa’eroun Alliance which has won the recent parliamentary election said that he would not be part of a future government influenced by Iran, said a report on Wednesday.
Al-Araby Al-Jadeed cited a source close to Sadr, saying that the Iraqi leader “is not ready to partner with Nouri al-Maliki, head of the State of Law which has currently taken the third place”.
He has said that “being an opposition group is far better than partnering with Maliki”, reiterating he won’t be in a cabinet which is not an Iraqi one.
According to the source, there is a primary agreement among Sa’eroun Alliance, Haider al-Abadi’s Victory Alliance, Ayad Alawi’s National Coalition, and part of the Sunnis on the formation of the next government, but they still can’t make a majority to do so without the Kurdish factions which have obtained a total of 58 seats of the parliament.
Article Credit: Basnews.com
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Post RV Checklist (it’s getting to be that time!! Listen up!!)
Dos and Don’ts of Windfall Wealth:
Treat it like a PowerBall win
– Tell no one, not even family. If you must talk, do so with one who is already in the know.
– Don’t run out & buy new “stuff”. People notice.
– Get an unpublished number and give it out very sparingly.
– Get a tax accountant you can trust to make sure the IRS is satisfied (Certified Opinion is something to look into) and pursue asset protection…
Read Complete List: http://www.dinarupdates.com/showthread.php?18519-The-Post-RV-Checklist-and-Flashback-documents&p=128477#post128477
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