Press release by Struan Stevenson, President of Delegation for relations with Iraq at the European Parliament, March 7, 2010
Repeated bomb blasts, death threats and intimidation failed to stop mainly Sunni secularists casting their votes in today’s Iraqi election. As the polling stations closed at 17:00 hrs local time, exit polls suggested that the secularist Allawi coalition (Iraqiya list) has won an outstanding victory.
Speaking following the close of polls, Conservative Euro MP Struan Stevenson – President of the European Parliament’s Delegation for Relations with Iraq said:
“I applaud the courage and fortitude of the Iraqi people who braved violence and coercion to exercise their democratic right to vote in today’s election. The Iranian regime has moved heaven and earth to try to stop the non-sectarian, secularist and nationalist parties from winning seats. They were behind the bogus and illegal banning of more than 500 candidates from standing in the elections on trumped up charges that they were sympathetic to the former Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein. In fact the only thing most of the banned 500 candidates had in common was their vigorous opposition to Iranian meddling in Iraq’s internal affairs.
“I have received repeated emails and phone calls confirming that the spate of bombings aimed at frightening secularist voters away from the polls was also the work of the Iranian regime and its allies in Iraq. But their evil tactics appear to have backfired and it looks like the non-sectarian Allawi coalition may have won the election.
“I am alarmed that many Iraqis are now contacting my email address [email protected] to report desperate attempts by Iran’s allies to manipulate the final result by, for example, writing on thousands of blank ballot papers on behalf of those who did not vote in an effort to steal the election from Mr Allawi. It is alleged that these fraudsters and criminals have mobilised systems for this to fill the boxes with the names of candidates belonging to one of the two pro-Iran Shiite groups: State of Law coalition (Nouri Al-Maliki) and the Iraqi National Alliance (AMAR AL-HAKIM).
“Such attempts to cheat the Iraqi people in the same way that the Iranian people were cheated out of an honest election result last June, will cause widespread unrest and could plunge Iraq back into turmoil. The true results of this election must be announced without delay and without interference by anyone.”
Struan Stevenson, MEP
President, Delegation for relations with Iraq
The European Parliament
Rue Wiertz, B-1047, Brussels.
