As praise poured in from around the world,Iraqis anxiously await the results of a historic election that drew voters out in greater-than-expected numbers.Election workers are racing to count ballots by hand -- in some cases by candlelight because of widespread power outages -- to decide the outcome of Iraq's first multi-party vote in nearly half a century.
President Bush hailed the election as a "resounding success." He had looked to the vote as a turning point in the troubled 22-month U.S. military presence in Iraq.
But the ballot counting, all but certain to bring a Shi'ite party to power, is facing some heavy criticism from other political factions competing for govermental seats. Rumors are swirling around Baghdad that the fledgling Iraqi Insurgent Party may demand a recount. According to an Insurgent Party spokesman, "we are investigating reports that the voting was free and fair and that there were no hanging Abdullahs". However, rival party members quickly dismissed the insurgents complaints.As one rival member of the Iraqi Republican Party put it "the insurgents are simply out of touch with the values of the average Iraqi." He added "those liberal insurgents just don't get it, morals count."
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