Reply #7: Note Chalabi's Performance

[Clara T]

Iraq's Shia Islamists take lead in election
By Steve Negus, Iraq Correspondent
Monday, December 19, 2005
Posted: 01:20 PM EST (18:20 London)

Iraq's election commission on Monday released preliminary results for last week's parliamentary election, indicating that the Shia Islamist United Iraqi Alliance (UIA) was taking a strong lead.

Sunni and Kurdish parties also did well, while a coalition led by former prime minister Iyad Allawi and other cross-sectarian alliances took fewer votes than many had expected.

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The results, if confirmed, are also likely to be a disappointment to the US and British governments, which were reportedly hoping that a strong showing for Mr Allawi would limit the power of the Alliance, which many Sunnis consider to be a force contributing to the polarisation of the country.

In Baghdad, the UIA took 58.7 per cent of valid ballots cast, while the Sunni-led Iraqi Consensus Front received 18.9 per cent and Mr Allawi 13.6 per cent.

http://us.ft.com/ftsuperpage/superpage.php?news_id=fto121920051332311152

And take note of Chalabi's underwhelming results:"The Iraqi National Congress of controversial Shia politician Ahmed Chalabi, tipped as a possible prime ministerial candidate, did much worse than many had expected, taking only 0.36 per cent of the vote in Baghdad and 0.34 per cent in Basra."