Fatah Alliance Calls for Annulment of Iraq Elections Results

Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri during the press conference in Baghdad (AFP)
Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri during the press conference in Baghdad (AFP)
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Fatah Alliance Calls for Annulment of Iraq Elections Results

Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri during the press conference in Baghdad (AFP)
Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri during the press conference in Baghdad (AFP)

Fatah Alliance leader Hadi al-Amiri accused the Iraqi Electoral Commission of several legal and technical violations, describing it as "incompetent."

Amiri asserted that the Alliance would follow legal measures and not resort to escalation through protests and demonstrations.

Some Baghdad political observers expect the coordinating framework groups to return to protests to impose their conditions.

The final results of the Electoral Commission showed that Fatah won 17 seats, compared to 48 seats in the previous parliamentary session.

Fatah based its arguments on an old report that claimed the voting machines of the German firm, Hensoldt, were not adequate. Hensoldt was tasked with auditing the devices and software used to count and compile votes of the 2018 elections.

"The election results proved the incompetence of the [electoral] commission to manage it [the vote]," Amiri a press conference.

He indicated the Alliance had doubts about these devices from the beginning, saying the Commission did not submit any report on the elections until the dissolution of the parliament, and this is a legal violation.

The Commission should have handed over the results to all the candidates, but it did not abide by this, said Amiri, adding there is a vast difference in votes handed over to the candidates and the announced results.

The Alliance submitted appeals to the Federal Court with evidence of forgery, and it has six reports on the Commission's violations of the law.

During a press conference, lawmaker Adnan Faihan, a member of Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, said that the German company confirmed there were issues in reading voters' fingerprints.

Last week, the Electoral Commission responded to reports about the German company, stressing that there was no election fraud and judicial verdicts are decisive and binding to all.

Member of its media team, Imad Jamil, said that claims about the company were observations reported before the elections.

Jamil explained that the company was brought to the counting center and examined the devices and spare parts, and the producing Korean company processed them.

He stressed that the Commission did not conceal the report of the German company, which indicated that the procedures for opening, closing, transferring, and other related procedures were done correctly.

Jamil also indicated that the Commission responded to several voting issues promptly, and the electoral system's problems did not impact the results.

The company pointed in its report that the Commission addressed quickly and effectively all problems, which allowed the verification of data inputs and outputs on multiple levels, Jamil noted, stressing that no foreign party attempted at any time to influence the review or interfere with it.



Qatar and Jordan Pledge Support to Syria

23 December 2024, Syria, Damascus: Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi (L) meets with Syria's new de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa. (Petra/dpa)
23 December 2024, Syria, Damascus: Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi (L) meets with Syria's new de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa. (Petra/dpa)
TT

Qatar and Jordan Pledge Support to Syria

23 December 2024, Syria, Damascus: Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi (L) meets with Syria's new de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa. (Petra/dpa)
23 December 2024, Syria, Damascus: Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi (L) meets with Syria's new de facto ruler Ahmed al-Sharaa. (Petra/dpa)

Qatar is ready to invest in Syria's energy sector and ports, the de facto Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said after meeting a senior Qatari official in Damascus on Monday, as his new administration widened contacts with Arab states.

Sharaa also received Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi, the first Arab foreign minister to visit Damascus since the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago. Safadi said Jordan was ready to help Syria rebuild.

The meetings further widened the diplomatic contacts of the new administration established after Sharaa's HTS, a former Al-Qaeda affiliate, led a decisive offensive that overthrew Assad after more than 13 years of war.

The end of Assad's rule has upended the geopolitics of the Middle East, dealing a major blow to his ally Iran and paving the way for other states to build new ties to a country at the crossroads of the region.

Türkiye, which long backed the Syrian opposition, was the first state to send its foreign minister to Damascus.

Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Mohammed Al-Khulaifi flew into Damascus on Monday aboard the first Qatar Airways flight to land there since Assad was toppled.

Sharaa, speaking to reporters as he stood next to Khulaifi, said that they had discussed the challenges of the coming period, and that he had invited Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani to visit Syria.

"The Qatari side expressed its readiness for wide investments in Syria in many sectors, chief amongst them the energy sector in which they have great experience ... as well as the ports and airports," Sharaa said.

Khulaifi said Qatar, the world's third largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG), would continue to "stand alongside our brothers in Syria at this time more than any other time".

"Syria and its people need support during this crucial phase which requires the concerted efforts of everyone, especially concerning the lifting of sanctions and the upcoming developmental projects," he said.

JORDAN WILL PROVIDE AID

Syria's stability is a key security concern for Jordan, which borders the country to the south.

Safadi said he agreed with Sharaa on cooperating to counter the smuggling of drugs and weapons from Syria to Jordan - a problem for years under Assad.

Safadi also noted that ISIS, with which Sharaa's group clashed earlier in the Syrian war, remained a threat.

"Our brothers in Syria also realize that this is a threat. God willing, we will all cooperate, not just Jordan and Syria, but all Arab countries and the international community, in fighting this scourge that poses a threat to everyone," he said.

"I focused on reconstruction efforts and Jordan will provide aid," Safadi said, adding that the new Syrian administration must have the opportunity to develop its plans.

There was no immediate statement from the Syrian side on the meeting.

Sharaa, who met senior US diplomats last week, severed ties with Al-Qaeda in 2016. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.