Iraq ballots blaze ‘deliberate’
THE fire that ravaged a Baghdad warehouse where votes from May’s legislative election were stored ahead of a recount was started “deliberately”, Iraqi Interior Minister Qassem al-Araji said on Monday.
The fire ripped through the warehouse Sunday ahead of a vote recount prompted by allegations of fraud during the election that saw a surprise victory for a populist cleric and Iraqi voters dumping the old guard.
“There is no doubt it was a deliberate act and I am personally following up on the investigation with the criminal police and the committee tasked with probing the fire,” Araji said.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control several hours after it broke out in a warehouse located in Al-Russafa, one of the largest voting districts in eastern Baghdad.
Around 60 percent of the two million voters in Baghdad cast their ballots in the May 12 election in that district.
The extent of the damage caused to ballot boxes was still unclear but some officials have suggested that most of them had been spared.
On Sunday an AFP reporter saw warehouse staff running out of the building as smoke billowed, carrying blue and white ballot boxes to safety.
“Election material, includ- ing maybe ballot boxes, were burned but most of the ballot boxes were stored in another building and have been preserved,” Interior Ministry spokesman General Saad Maan told reporters on Sunday.
The blaze comes as Iraq prepares for a manual recount of around 10 million votes, following allegations of fraud during the May 12 legislative polls.
The vote was won by populist Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr’s electoral alliance with communists, as long-time political figures were pushed out by Iraqi voters hoping for change in a country mired in conflict and corruption.
But the result was contested following allegations of fraud namely by the veteran politicians led by parliamentary speaker Salim al-Juburi. The recount was ordered by parliament on Wednesday at all polling stations, although no timetable has been announced.
According to intelligence services, tests of electronic voting machines – used for the first time in Iraq – produced varied results, appearing to give credence to the fraud claims.
Fateh al-Sheikh, who ran and lost in the polls, went to the scene of the fire and cried foul.
“They are burning the votes of the Iraqi people. Those who tampered with the results are behind this fire,” he shouted to anyone willing to listen.
Political analyst Essam al-Fili told AFP the blaze would only serve to fuel “a real crisis”.
“Iraqis no longer trust all those [politicians] who have been around for years . . . because many of them are more interested in power than in the interests of the public,” he said.
Last month’s election saw a record number of abstentions as Iraqis snubbed the corruption-tainted elite who have dominated the country since the 2003 US-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.
Less than half of Iraq’s 24million electorate took part, dumping the old guard in favour of Sadr’s alliance followed by a list of former fighters of the Hashed al-Shaabi alliance that last year played a key role in the defeat of Islamic State.
But the old guard, dumped by Iraqi voters, have clamoured for a recount.
Experts have said it is unlikely that it would produce a major change in the number of seats won by their rival lists, but rath- er modify the rankings of candidates within the same lists.
On Wednesday, Iraq’s outgoing parliament also sacked the nine-member independent commission which oversaw the polls, and on Sunday they were replaced by nine judges who would supervise the recount.
The previous week parliament had already voted to annul the ballots of displaced Iraqis and those living abroad, although they accounted for only a fraction of the overall vote.