Leading Shiite alliance rejects re-vote in Iraq
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-12-24 21:15

Iraq's leading Shiite alliance rejected re-vote on Saturday and called for Sunni parties to accept the December 15 election results.

"There will be no re-vote of the elections," Jawad al-Maliki, a senior member of the Shiite alliance, told a news conference held here on Saturday.

"Even if there is fraud in some polling stations, the commission can cancel the results of these stations," he said.

"In the end, we have to accept the results and the will of the people," Maliki concluded.

Maliki also condemned "threats and using violence" by some political parties rejecting the results of the elections designed to choose the country's first full-term government since the U.S.- led invasion toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Meanwhile, Hussein al-Shahristani, another senior member of the Shiite Alliance and deputy speaker of the outgoing parliament, echoed Maliki's calls.

"There is no doubt that the elections were genuine and reflected the will of the Iraqi people and the results should be respected," he said.

The Iraqi Electoral Commission announced the partial results of the December 15 legislative elections on Monday, which showed that the Shiite coalition won most of the votes in Baghdad and other Shiite provinces.

On Friday, thousands of Sunni Arabs demonstrated in the streets of Baghdad against the partial results, accusing them of being fraudulent.

On Thursday, 33 Iraqi political parties decided to form a new bloc in protest against the announced results and threatened to boycott the new parliament if their complaints are not dealt with.