Iraq election results expected today

Iraq’s electoral commission is expected to certify results from the country’s January 30 elections and allocate seats today for the new 275-member National Assembly, officials said.

Electoral Commission official Adel al-Lami the results would be announced at a press conference in Baghdad

“Today we are going to certify the election results and declare the names of the winners and the seats each slate got,” al-Lami said today.

The commission first announced results from the ballot on Sunday, saying the clergy-backed United Iraqi Alliance scooped 48% of the vote for the National Assembly, the Kurdish alliance took 26% and Allawi, a secular Shiite who supported strong ties to Washington, won only 14%.

A deadline to file complaints expired yesterday.

Once the results are certified, the present government must set a timetable for installing the new government. There have been no indications on how long that might take, and will depend on back-room dealmaking among the parties.