Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc won two more seats than al-Maliki’s State of Law Alliance [AFP]

Iyad Allawi, the former Iraqi prime minister, has begun talks to form a government after narrowly edging out incumbent Nouri al-Maliki in Iraq’s parliamentary elections.

Allawi’s secularist Iraqiya coalition won 91 seats in the 325-member Council of Representatives while al-Maliki’s State of Law Alliance won 89 seats, the independent electoral commission said on Friday.

“There must be a strong government, capable of taking decisions which serve the Iraqi people, and bring peace and stability to Iraq,” Allawi told a press conference on Saturday.

“There have been some talks, but they were only talks. Now, the negotiations begin,” Allawi said.

Rafa al-Essawi, the current deputy prime minister and a member of the Iraqiya alliance, has been appointed to lead negotiations over coalition formation.

Al-Maliki refusal

Al-Maliki has refused to accept the results from the March 7 poll, insisting figures released on Friday night by the election commission remained “preliminary”.

Kurdistania, consisting of the autonomous Kurdish region’s two long-dominant blocs – the Kurdish Democratic Party and Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, won 43 seats.

in depth

What next after Iraq’s election results? Any complaints are laid before the Electoral Judicial Panel. This is a sub-committee of the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq. Any person or party has three days to appeal the results. The EJP has 10 days to investigate/adjudicate on these complaints If there are no rulings in the complainants’ favour, and perhaps even if there are, the EJP sends the result to the Federal Supreme Court for ‘final certification’. This could take up to two weeks The Council of Representatives (COR) - in its new 325-seat form – is convened and they have to elect a speaker and two deputies. Then the COR has to elect a new president by a two-thirds majority The new president turns to the job of asking someone to try to form a government If the president’s first pick cannot form a coalition of at least 163 seats, then the president turns to the second on the list and asks them. Now in theory, each ‘team’ has a 15 day limit on the amount of time they can spend trying to form that coalition

Al Jazeera’s Anita McNaught, reporting from Baghdad, said Allawi would be given “a first shot” to form a government which must hold at least a majority of 163 seats in the council.

According to the Iraqi constitution, if Allawi fails to do so within 30 days, the Iraqi president, who is elected by parliament, will designate the leader of another political list to form a coalition government.

Following the results announcement, Allawi pledged to “work with all sides” to form a coalition government.

However, in a press conference carried by Iraqi networks, al-Maliki said that the election results announced were “not final” and rejected the outcome.

“We still insist for a manual recount of votes … We cannot accept these results while we suspect them,” al-Maliki said.

“We want to build our country on a clear and transparent elections therefore the electoral commission must seriously respond to our demand.”

Abdel Bari Atwan, the editor of al-Quds al-Arabi newspaper, told Al Jazeera that the election had shown changes in the country’s political makeup: “The Sunnis voted for Allawi who is a Shia. They want a real Iraqi identity. They want to put an end to the Iranian influence which is spreading in the country.

“Also they want a secular government, they are fed up of this sectarianism. They want to have an Iraq they aspire to, to have stability, democracy, human rights, equality. And they don’t want those religious people at the top of their authority.”

The US congratulated Iraq for carrying out a successful election, and noted both international and domestic observers had reported no signs of widespread or serious fraud.

“This marks a significant milestone in the ongoing democratic development of Iraq,”  PJ Crowley, the state department spokesman, said.

The US embassy in Iraq also issued a statement supporting the election results and calling on all political factions to work together.

“We support the findings of international and independent Iraqi observers, who have affirmed their confidence in the overall integrity of the election and have found that there is no evidence of widespread or serious fraud,” the statement said.

Stratfor » March 19, 2010 | 1602 GMT

Iraq’s Alsumaria News, citing the latest results from the country’s election commission, on March 19 showed what appears to be the first breakdown of seats in the Iraqi parliament after the March 7 elections.  Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law (SoL) coalition won 91 seats.  Former interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya List is a close second, with 88 seats. A Shiite sectarian coalition, the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), is in third place with 68 seats, while the Kurdistani Alliance (KA) garnered 39 seats.

The biggest development was the rise of Allawi’s non-sectarian Iraqi nationalist coalition, which swept the polls in the Sunni provinces of Anbar, Ninawa and Salah ad Din, and has performed strongly in the ethnically mixed provinces of Diyala and Kirkuk and Baghdad.

While the Sunnis largely rejected sectarian forces, the Shiite vote remained in favor of sectarian forces – albeit divided between SoL and INA. Meanwhile, the main Kurdish bloc appears to have seen a substantial (though expected) drop in their parliamentary strength for two reasons: Sunni participation in the election and the rise of smaller Kurdish parties.

Intense negotiations among the various winning blocs are under way. The biggest question is whether Allawi’s bloc, which now represents the Sunnis, can be part of a grand coalition government. SoL, INA and KA have more than the required 163 seats to form a government. But that would put the Sunnis’ representatives in the opposition – an outcome that translates into instability in the country. Also, given his bloc’s performance, Allawi will make many demands in any power-sharing negotiations, especially since al-Maliki will want to retain the prime ministerial post since his party has the most seats and he has a post-electoral alliance understanding with the INA.

It is clear that the Shia need to include Allawi in the next government, but it is too early to say how it will happen. The United States would like to see Allawi and al-Maliki work together and contain Iranian influence in Iraq. But the Iranians are well aware of the Shiite divide between SoL and INA and got the two blocs to agree to a post-electoral alliance well before the vote. Tehran also knew that Iraq’s Sunnis would participate in the election in full force this time and has been operating accordingly. This is why the Iranians will try to get a SoL-INA-KA grand alliance to negotiate with Allawi’s Iraqiya List in order to contain the Sunnis.

Iraq: Stops Importing Fuel, First Time Since 2003

Iraq PM Maliki in tight race with rival Allawi

The latest results from Iraq’s parliamentary poll show a tight race emerging between Prime Minister Nouri Maliki and his main rival, Iyad Allawi.

With 80% of votes counted, the secular Shia-Sunni Iraqiya coalition led by Mr Allawi, a former prime minister, has a narrow overall lead for the first time.

But Mr Maliki’s State of Law alliance remains ahead in Baghdad and Basra.

The BBC’s Andrew North, in the capital, says the picture could well change by the time all the votes are counted.

Results from refugee voters outside Iraq, and special pre-election voting by Iraqi security forces have still to be announced, and they could dramatically affect the outcome of the parliamentary poll, our correspondent says.

With neither coalition able to win an overall majority, it is likely to mean talks on forming a new government will be long and difficult, he adds.

Minority Sunnis

Mr Allawi’s Iraqiya coalition is ahead in five of Iraq’s 18 provinces, and his nationwide lead is only 9,000 votes.

It is proving popular among minority Sunni Muslims resentful of the dominance of Shia religious parties since 2003.

Mr Maliki’s State of Law alliance is meanwhile ahead in seven provinces.

Source – BBC

Today we had to increase prices on stock as it is getting increasingly difficult getting Iraqi dinars out of Iraq particularly in the smaller denominations where large increases have been seen .

As we hear the Iraqis are no longer printing new Dinars , we expect this increase in price trend to continue .

Bruce Tupholme

www.iraqidinars.com

* Secondary T-bill market to boost banks’ liquidity

* Also plans to create new forex markets

* Sees return to budget surplus in 2012

(Adds details)

By Michael Christie

BAGHDAD, March 10 (Reuters) – Iraq expects to step up its treasury bill activity in 2010 to help plug continuing budget deficits and foster a secondary treasury market, the Central Bank and Finance Ministry said in a submission to the IMF.

Iraq also wants to promote the development of foreign exchange markets outside the framework of regular dollar auctions currently conducted by the Central Bank, including an interbank market and dinar forward market, the submission said.

The country’s letter of intent to the International Monetary Fund can be accessed at http://www.imf.org/External/NP/LOI/2010/irq/020810.pdf.

In the submission for a $3.6 billion standby arrangement, dated Feb. 8, Iraq said the country only now emerging from years of sectarian slaughter that followed the 2003 U.S.-led invasion would not return to a budget surplus until 2012.

“As our financing needs in 2010 will still be substantial, we will step up our efforts to mobilize domestic financing through the Treasury bill market,” Iraq’s Central Bank head and finance minister wrote.

“To that end, we will conduct regular auctions, and refrain from cancellations, while allowing interest rates to be determined by the market. This will have additional benefits by determining a benchmark interest rate, while the development of a secondary market for treasury bills will allow banks to improve their liquidity management.” They said the country planned to introduce a sales tax, as a precursor to a Value Added Tax, “in the coming years”.

Iraq’s gross domestic product expanded by 4 percent in 2009 compared with almost 10 percent the year before, the submission reported. GDP growth would rise to almost 7 percent this year and 7.5-8.0 percent in 2011 and 2012, it said.

That improvement would be rooted in an increase in Iraqi oil output to 3.1 million barrels per day by 2012, from around 2.5 million bpd now, and exports of 2.5 million bpd, compared to just over 2 million bpd now.

Amongst other things, the submission said Iraq’s central bank planned to create a foreign exchange market outside the framework of regular dollar auctions now conducted by the bank. The bank uses the auctions to set the exchange rate, which has been held at 1,170 dinars per dollar for many months.

“To improve the functioning of foreign exchange auctions, we plan to develop organized exchange markets outside the central bank, including an interbank foreign exchange market,” it said.

“Our aim is to establish a forward market in Iraqi dinars in the near future.” (Reporting by Michael Christie; Editing by Missy Ryan)

by Carson Miller
Hatchet Reporter

Web Exclusive

Iraqi Ambassador to the United States Samir Sumaida’ie said Iraqi nationalism is stronger than ever as elections approach in an event hosted by the Elliott School of International Affairs and GW’s International Development Studies Program Wednesday night.

Sumaida’ie shared the narrative of Iraq during the last half of the 20th century from his perspective, telling of a nation of promise in the 1950s slipping into authoritarianism under Saddam Hussein.

Sumaida’ie described his youth in Iraq as pleasant, with people caring about tending their gardens and providing their children with education.

“It was a time when everybody was hopeful about the future,” he said.

After Hussein’s military coup, Sumaida’ie said that Iraq went downhill in every possible way.

“Before Saddam, the GDP [of Iraq] was equivalent to that of Spain, and the Iraqi dinar was equal to 3.3 American dollars.”

Upon the end of Hussein’s end, Sumaida’ie said that one American dollar was equal to more than 3,000 Iraqi dinars.

“I was horrified to see village after village after village abandoned and destroyed,” he said.

Sumaida’ie made it clear that he was not there to discuss whether or not the United States should have invaded Iraq in 2003, but he did say that the Americans “came in without a really true understanding of how bad it really was.”

Though the issue is still controversial in the United States, the ambassador said that American military help is a relatively straightforward decision for the Iraqis. With American help, Sumaida’ie said that Iraq is “spiraling upwards, not downward.”

That is not to say that there are not problems, however. Sumaida’ie said terrorists, especially those trained by neighboring countries and brought into Iraq, are still a threat.

He said that while there are terrorists, they do not represent the views and actions of the vast majority of the Iraqi population. Internal corruption is another issue that Sumaida’ie said is still being fought.

“It will take years, but in this year, I believe there will be less corruption than the last,” he said.

Sumaida’ie was very optimistic when discussing the upcoming elections in Iraq.

“We are proud to have reached a point, where this Sunday, the Iraqi people will go, dip their fingers in ink, and cast their vote,” he said. “Terrorists will be here for some time, but they have failed to derail the election.”

Sumaida’ie also said the election cycle of a democratic government is a very exciting feeling.

“Iraq now, today, does not know who is going to rule them in six months. That’s great!”

One graduate student found Sumaida’ie to be a timely speaker.

“It was very interesting. It was great that we could have somebody come here and discuss these issues in such a pertinent time in their history and such a crucial time in their history,” said Ryan Evans, a second year graduate student in the Elliott School.

Another student, first year graduate student Kristin Cullison, said the talk gave perspective on understanding the Iraqi people.

“Just to have the opportunity to ask him specifics about the election and what his thoughts were was very revealing,” Cullison said. “I think I definitely came out of this with a better understanding of the Iraqi people.”

We have been dealing in Iraqi Dinars since 2003 and have vast experience in this currency due to valuable contacts we have established over the years . Every day we buy and sell millions of Iraqi Dinars , take payment easily via credit card and ship worldwide via rapid courier service . We have an excellent track record and our customers speak very highly of our services . Iraqidinars.com is owned and run by currency specialist Bruce Tupholme , who has over 24 years experince in financial markets – this combination makes Iraqidinars.com your trusted Iraq Dinar dealer – we hope to serve you for a very long time .