Politicians vie for power ahead of Iraq poll results

Baghdad: Political manoeuvring was under way in Iraq before initial results from the parliamentary election are announced, with early indications that no party would win a majority and tough coalition bargaining lies ahead.

Vice-President Tarek Al Hashemi told a televised news conference in Baghdad that the next president of the country must be an Arab. "This country is Arab and an Arab should be on top," he said.

The current president is Kurdish politician Jalal Talabani, who has already declared his intention to stay on in the job. The president is elected by parliament.

The main competitors are Prime Minister Nouri Al Maliki's State of Law alliance and the Iraqiya party of a former premier, Eyad Allawi. Coalition-building is essential to a US plan to withdraw its troops as Iraq establishes a stable government. American officials insist the pullout will go ahead.

Districts that have tallied at least 30 per cent of their votes report to Baghdad. Final results may not be certified until the end of the month. Turnout was 62.4 per cent, Iraq's Independent High Electoral Commission said. Al Maliki's and Allawi's lists of candidates may each get less than a third of the 325 seats at stake, according to reports from Iraqi media.

Allawi's list is "neck and neck" with Al Maliki's bloc, Allawi's official spokeswoman, Maysoon Al Damluji, said yesterday in a phone interview from Baghdad. "We are doing pretty well."