All Iraq parties should accept poll results

Iraq again postponed the release of the preliminary results from Sunday's general election. The results are now expected to be announced in a few days.

However, exit polls and leaked reports suggest incumbent Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki and his chief secular rival Iyad Allawi are the main candidates for the top job, with their parties having appeared to have fared best in Iraq's second national elections.

Officials and analysts nevertheless say that no party would get the 163 seats, required to form the new government. A coalition cabinet is a must, they say. Therefore, it might take a few months to agree on the composition of the government.

This is not in the interest of Iraq. As the war-ravaged country painfully inches towards stability and tries to heal the wounds of war and civil strife, a prolonged period of uncertainty represents a setback for those efforts.

Secondly, Iraq needs a coherent coalition in order to have a strong government that can fight on two fronts. The first is the fight against armed groups, which threaten to draw Iraq back to the turbulent times of 2006-2008. The second is the war against the endemic corruption in government bodies, which hinders the rebuilding plans and fuels popular mistrust in the government.

A strong government will also ensure the American military withdrawal plan is implemented according to schedule. But most important is that all parties should accept the election results. There may have been some irregularities, but these happen everywhere.

According to international observers, the poll process was open and fair. Planting seeds of doubts over Sunday's process, without tangible evidence, will surely diminish the legitimacy of the new government — the last thing that Iraq needs in this time of transition.

What Iraq needs is a strong government which represents equally the country's various religious and ethnic groups.