The Associated Press
BAGHDAD — Iraq's president on Sunday demanded a recount in this month's parliamentary elections, intensifying the political conflict over the not-yet-completed tally and increasing the chances that the vote will be a long, chaotic test of the nascent democracy.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's coalition is narrowly trailing in the overall vote tally to one led by former prime minister Ayad Allawi, with 95% of the vote counted. Al-Maliki is still leading in the province-by-province count, which is how the seats for the parliament will be apportioned.
President Jalal Talabani, whose own coalition is losing to Allawi's secular alliance in a key province, invoked the power of his office in calling for a recount. On his official website, Talabani demanded that the Independent High Electoral Commission manually recount the ballots.
The commission has rejected such calls, and Iraqi law empowers neither Talabani nor al-Maliki to force the issue. The panel is an independent body appointed by the parliament.
The head of the election commission, Faraj al-Haidari, urged the political parties to be patient Sunday and scoffed at the idea that a manual recount would be more accurate than the computerized count nearing completion.
"If you do not believe in the most advanced counting technologies, then how are you going to believe in an employee using pen and paper?" al-Haidari asked.