By Ali Jawad
BAGHDAD (AA) – Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) on Thursday announced plans to draw up a new committee to assume the responsibilities of the country’s official electoral commission.
The move comes in response to a parliamentary decision to conduct a manual recount of May 12 election results and appoint a nine-judge panel to take over the electoral commission’s responsibilities.
In a Thursday statement, SJC spokesman Abdul Sattar al-Biraqdar said council members would meet on Sunday to select the nine judges, who will replace the nine members of the electoral commission’s influential board of commissioners.
On Tuesday, the government slapped a travel ban on top electoral commission officials pending further investigation into allegations of voting fraud.
Results of Iraq’s hotly-contested May 12 parliamentary election remain dogged by dispute and controversy.
Late last month, lawmakers called for a manual vote recount, citing widespread fraud allegations.
Electoral commission officials responded by warning of “potential civil unrest” if the poll results were overturned.
Muqtada al-Sadr, an influential Shia cleric and politician, has said that parliament lacks the authority to overturn election results.
Al-Sadr's Sairoon coalition dominated the May 12 polls, winning 54 out of parliament’s 329 seats, according to official results.
The Sairoon coalition was followed by a Hashd al-Shaabi-linked coalition (47 seats) and Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi's Victory bloc (42 seats).
