BAGHDAD — Iraq's Supreme Court on Tuesday took the first major step toward resolving the nation's election crisis, ratifying the results and declaring a secular alliance the biggest winner in the March 7 parliamentary vote.
Despite the official court approval of the results, the government impasse remains far from over as it could take weeks if not months before lawmakers choose new leaders.
Announcing the certification, Chief Judge Midhat al-Mahmoud described as "reliable" election results that gave 91 seats to the Iraqiya political alliance led by Ayad Allawi, a former prime minister and secular Shiite. The alliance is heavily backed by Iraq's once-dominant Sunni Arab minority.
Based on those results, "we decided to ratify the final results of the general parliament elections for 2010," al-Mahmoud told a news conference at the Supreme Court.
