Chalabi may "win" one of the 275 seats in Iraq parliament with 8,645 votes

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/30/AR2005123001307.html

<snip>Once tabbed by some U.S. officials as a future leader of Iraq, Chalabi suffered a series of blows following the U.S.-led invasion, beginning when intelligence he provided to the Pentagon about Iraq's alleged weapons of mass destruction proved false. He was later accused of passing U.S. secrets to the government of Iran. But in recent months, several U.S. officials have praised Chalabi's technical expertise and ability to facilitate agreements among feuding factions within the government.

"He has proven himself quite capable and experienced in dealing with all aspects of Iraq's energy sector and is well-qualified for this position," a U.S. official said on the condition that he not be named because he was commenting on an Iraqi government decision.

Based on preliminary results from the December elections, Chalabi received 8,645 votes in Baghdad, well below the threshold a top U.N. official suggested this week would be required to win a seat.

Moussawi said Friday that Chalabi could still end up in the parliament, depending on how officials interpret a technical detail of election rules relating to how remaining seats are allocated after each party meeting a specific threshold is awarded its seats.

"There is still confusion, even today at the election commission, about this, but we are hearing the party will have at least one seat," Moussawi said.

I forgot that the crooks are running the jailhouse these days. :-(

Even if they lose a rigged election, they will force the result.

rules". They held an election and there is still confusion about how it works. What a fiasco this election is, just like the war.

Sounds official. The USA created it a while back.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_Electoral_Commission_of_Iraq

Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq

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The Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (IECI) is Iraq's electoral commission. It was set up in May 2004 by the Coalition Provisional Authority to begin work towards holding an election in the country. The electoral commission is headed by a nine member board. Seven of those members are voting and must be Iraqi citizens. The other two members are the Chief Electoral Officer and an outside expert appointed by the United Nations. In the 2005 election the expert was Colombian Carlos Valenzuela. The current Chief Electoral Officer is Adil Lami. The commission set up and ran the January 2005 Iraqi legislative election as well as the simultaneous elections for provincial governments and the Kurdistan Regional Government. It also set up the voting places in fourteen nations outside of Iraq. The Commission is also tasked with dealing with complaints about the election. In the lead up to the 2005 election the Commission had some 6000 employees. Several Commission workers were killed by insurgents. Many more quit because of the danger, or refused to go to dangerous parts of the country.



Don

from Judith Miller in the NY Times about what a pillar of authenticity Ahmed Chalabi is to the United States and the enduring Iraqis and his never ending struggle to help humanity.