Maliki prepares for Iraqi coalition as counting goes on

THE Iraqi prime minister's bloc yesterday said it has started groundwork to form a coalition government, signalling growing confidence after preliminary election results showed it winning in at least three provinces in the southern Shia heartland.

But the outcome from the key parliamentary vote remained uncertain, with election officials still counting ballots nearly a week after Iraqis went to the polls.

Partial tallies so far have been released from seven of Iraq's 18 provinces, excluding Baghdad. Results from one province showed an Iran-backed Shia religious coalition in the lead, but also gave another province to prime minister Nouri al-Maliki. Though his secular challenger, Ayad Allawi, was as of Thursday ahead in two provinces north of Baghdad, it is said that al-Maliki's coalition has a narrow edge overall, though not an outright majority

The electoral commission said that the Iraqi National Alliance (INA), a coalition of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council and followers of Muqtada al-Sadr, had the lead over al-Maliki in Maysan province, which borders Iran.

Abbas al-Bayati, a member of al-Maliki's coalition, said yesterday the alliance had created a committee to open talks with other blocs and expected the group would need two or three other coalitions to form a government.

Rend al-Rahim, a candidate with Allawi's Iraqiya coalition, said yesterday that the group had filed 32 complaints of fraud.