A manual recount of votes from Iraq's parliamentary elections began on Tuesday in an attempt to end the country's political stalemate.
May's elections, the fourth since the fall of former dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003, had the lowest voter turnout at only 44 per cent, fuelled by public anger at the country's dysfunctional political system.
"The counting will be conducted by local electoral offices in numerous cities where a high record of complaints were made, including Kirkuk, Sulaimaniya, Erbil, Dohuk, Nineveh, Salahuddin and Anbar," Saad Al Hadithi, a spokesman for Prime Minister Haider Al Abadi, told The National.
Suspect ballot boxes were transferred and stored in Kirkuk's municipality offices late on Monday.
"The results may take one to two weeks or even a month to be announced, but the decision is not up to the government to make, it's now in the hands of the supreme court," Mr Al Hadithi said. The results will be taken to the high court to be ratified.
The recount will be carried out one province at a time, said Jaber Al Jaberi, a politician representing Anbar.
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Read more:
[ Sadr City seethes over Iraqi politicians' neglect ]
[ One killed in car bomb near to ballot box site in Iraq's Kirkuk ]
[ Iraq hangs 13 extremists to avenge civilian killings ]
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Representatives from the United Nations and international observers will inspect the manual recount. Yet, lawmakers in Kirkuk showed frustration at the lack of external presence over the process.
"The number of foreign observers that are watching for signs for fraud is very low," Arshad Al Salihi, head of the Turkmen Front in Kirkuk told The National. "This is a worrying matter as there are only two observers per box and there are hundreds of rigged boxes."
The initial results were disputed by the Turkmen and Arab communities of the region which is also inhabited by a large Kurdish population.
In the oil-rich city, the results showed a preliminary win for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), a historic Kurdish party. Yet, the overall outcome gave the nationalist Shiite cleric Moqtada Al Sadr's electoral alliance with the communists the largest share of seats in parliament with 54 seats out of the 329 available.
The results pushed out entrenched political figures as Iraqis sought change in the country.
Votes cast overseas in Iran, Turkey, Britain, Lebanon, Jordan, the United States and Germany will also be recounted.
In an amendment to the elections law passed last month, parliament demanded a nationwide recount of votes and the cancellation of ballots cast by certain sections of voters.
The demand for a cancellation of votes was rejected, but calls for a recount were backed by the Supreme Court after some parties made allegations of ballot stuffing after the low voter turnout.
Electronic voting machines were used in May's elections for the first time in an attempt to eliminate electoral fraud.
Mr Al Salihi expressed concern over recent reports of violence near the northern city.
"We have called on the Iraqi security to deploy their forces to Kirkuk as the security situation remains unstable."
On Sunday, a car bomb killed one person in Kirkuk near a storage site housing ballot boxes, two days before the manual recount was due to begin.
Police said at least 20 people, mostly police officers stationed to protect the site, were injured.
The driver detonated the vehicle before reaching the entrance of the warehouse after officers guarding the facility opened fire, police sources said.
The deployed troops are preparing for a large military operation to eliminate the remaining ISIS sleeper cells who remains active in northern Iraq, carrying out sporadic ambushes, assassinations and bombings.
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
Key Points
- Protests against President Omar Al Bashir enter their sixth day
- Reports of President Bashir's resignation and arrests of senior government officials
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
The specs
Engine: Dual permanently excited synchronous motors
Power: 516hp or 400Kw
Torque: 858Nm
Transmission: Single speed auto
Range: 485km
Price: From Dh699,000
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Final scores
18 under: Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
- 14: Jason Scrivener (AUS)
-13: Rory McIlroy (NIR)
-12: Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
-11: David Lipsky (USA), Marc Warren (SCO)
-10: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Chris Paisley (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR)
TWISTERS
Director:+Lee+Isaac+Chung
Starring:+Glen+Powell,+Daisy+Edgar-Jones,+Anthony+Ramos
Rating:+2.5/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Company name: Klipit
Started: 2022
Founders: Venkat Reddy, Mohammed Al Bulooki, Bilal Merchant, Asif Ahmed, Ovais Merchant
Based: Dubai, UAE
Industry: Digital receipts, finance, blockchain
Funding: $4 million
Investors: Privately/self-funded
Kill
Director: Nikhil Nagesh Bhat
Starring: Lakshya, Tanya Maniktala, Ashish Vidyarthi, Harsh Chhaya, Raghav Juyal
Rating: 4.5/5
Inside Out 2
Director: Kelsey Mann
Starring: Amy Poehler, Maya Hawke, Ayo Edebiri
Rating: 4.5/5
The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
ROUTE TO TITLE
Round 1: Beat Leolia Jeanjean 6-1, 6-2
Round 2: Beat Naomi Osaka 7-6, 1-6, 7-5
Round 3: Beat Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 6-2
Round 4: Beat Anastasia Potapova 6-0, 6-0
Quarter-final: Beat Marketa Vondrousova 6-0, 6-2
Semi-final: Beat Coco Gauff 6-2, 6-4
Final: Beat Jasmine Paolini 6-2, 6-2
More from UAE Human Development Report:
'Brazen'
Director:+Monika Mitchell
Starring:+Alyssa Milano, Sam Page, Colleen Wheeler
Rating: 3/5
Tips for job-seekers
- Do not submit your application through the Easy Apply button on LinkedIn. Employers receive between 600 and 800 replies for each job advert on the platform. If you are the right fit for a job, connect to a relevant person in the company on LinkedIn and send them a direct message.
- Make sure you are an exact fit for the job advertised. If you are an HR manager with five years’ experience in retail and the job requires a similar candidate with five years’ experience in consumer, you should apply. But if you have no experience in HR, do not apply for the job.
David Mackenzie, founder of recruitment agency Mackenzie Jones Middle East
SPECS
Engine: Two-litre four-cylinder turbo
Power: 235hp
Torque: 350Nm
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
Price: From Dh167,500 ($45,000)
On sale: Now
'Jurassic World Dominion'
Director: Colin Trevorrow
Stars: Sam Neill, Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Pratt
Rating: 4/5