runner in Iraq's recent parliamentary elections Wednesday called for the formation of an impartial, internationally supervised caretaker government to prevent the country from sliding into violence and counter what he says are efforts to change the vote results. Former prime minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite whose cross-sectarian coalition narrowly won the most votes in the March 7 polling, said that disqualifying candidates and holding recounts is an attempt to “steal the will of the Iraqi people.” The call comes after an Iraqi court charged with investigating election-related complaints disqualified one of his candidates over alleged ties to the former regime. Election officials confirmed that another nine winning candidates, including seven from Allawi's list and one from al-Maliki's, were being investigated. The court's ruling came at the urging of a commission charged with investigating politicians' connections to Saddam Hussein's regime. Hamdiya Al-Hussaini of the election commission told the AP that the court is expected to decide on the fate of the nine others by Monday. Disqualifying Allawi's candidates would favor incumbent Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki's State of Law bloc, which came in second-placed, losing out to Allawi's coalition by just two seats.
