BAGHDAD, October25 , 2005 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Iraqis have ratified their new constitution, the results of a referendum showed on Tuesday, October25 , amidst cries of vote rigging.

Electoral Commission officials told a news conference 78 percent of voters backed the charter and 21 percent opposed it, Reuters reported.

Of 18 provinces, only two recorded "No" votes greater than two thirds, one province short of a veto.

Referendum rules stipulate that the draft fails if rejected by a two-thirds majority in any three of the 18 provinces and elections to a new parliament must be held.

Although a big "Yes" vote was expected across the country, given support for the charter from the Shiites and their Kurdish allies in government, the outcome was in doubt to the last because of the risk of a regional blocking vote in provinces with big Sunni Arab populations.

Two provinces had already been confirmed to have voted heavily "No" -- 96 percent in Al-Anbar and 81 percent in Salahaddin.

But the final results announced on Tuesday showed that a third, "swing", province of Nineveh, had voted by only 55 percent against the constitution, short of a two-thirds majority.

No other province returned a "No" majority.

Turnout in the October 15 referendum was 63 percent, commission officials had said previously.

A parliamentary election scheduled for December 15 will now elect a parliament with full constitutional powers for four years.

Had the charter been blocked, parliament would have had only interim powers for a year while it drew up another draft constitution.

Click to read the final results in full:
http://www.islamonline.org/English/News/2005-10/25/article05
a.shtml

Rigged


Saleh Al-Mutlaq, the leader of the Sunni umbrella body Iraqi National Dialogue Council, cried foul.

"The results have been rigged in Mosul, Nineveh, Diyala and most of the southern provinces," charged Mutlaq in statements to Al-Jazeera television.

He said vote counting is illegal because it has taken place in Baghdad and not in each of the 18 provinces.

"We call for a fresh referendum under the supervision of the United Nations and Iraqi judiciary," he said in a fiery mood. "Only then we will recognize the results."

Mutlaq further said the Iraqi people are "disappointed" at the lack of transparency.

"We cast our votes though we knew for sure that the results would be rigged and now our complaints would fall on deaf ears."

Iraq delayed the announcement of the October 15 vote results after the Electoral Commission said it was rechecking ballots amidst charges of vote rigging.

Dignitaries and tribal chieftains in Nineveh have warned of massive fraud in vote counting, calling for an international inquiry.

Sunnis are opposed to the charter, basically to the inclusion of a federalism article because they believe it will divide Iraq and exclude them from sharing in oil wealth, as reserves are concentrated mainly in the north and south.