Maliki’s list advancing in Basra’s initial vote count

BASRA / IraqiNews.com: Initial results of vote counting in Basra showed the Dawlat al-Qanoon coalition in the lead with up to 50 percent of the total votes, monitors in different election centers in the port city said on Sunday. “The coalition, led by incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is advancing by 50 percent of the total votes compared to other competing lists,” observers told IraqiNews.com news agency. The observers had finished counting votes at a late hour on Saturday (Jan. 31) in the centers of al-Hadi, al-Manahil and al-Kindi in northern Basra, the al-Sibtayn and al-Muntada centers in western Basra and al-Abbassiya center in central Basra. “The turnout did not exceed 50 percent of the eligible electorate,” they added. The monitors pointed out that the rest of lists that shared the remaining 50 percent were the Shahid al-Mihrab, the Iraqi List, the Independent Bloc of al-Ahrar (Sadrists, or Iraqis loyal to Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr), al-Fadhila (Virtue) Party, the National Bloc and some tribal lists. They said that no problems or electoral violations occurred in their centers with the exception that some voters did not find their names in the electoral registries. The oil-rich province of Basra lies 590 km south of the Iraqi capital Baghdad. AmR (P)/SR 1