Iraqi Prime Minister calls for recount in Kirkuk amid accusations of election fraud

Iraq’s election commission should hold a manual recount in the northern province of Kirkuk, Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday after reports of fraud and defects emerged in relation to a new electronic voting system, according to state media. He added that a nationwide recount would be necessary if the reports coming from Kirkuk were substantiated. Al-Abadi’s Nasr (Victory) Coalition was considered the front-runner, but ended up in third place. Nationalist cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s Sairoon Coalition achieved an upset victory, in what has been described as a repudiation of both US and Iranian influence in Iraq.