After losing in the final announcement, candidate accuses "big party" of meddling with the poll results

Shafaq News/ The candidate for "Qadimoun to Change", Hoda Thamer, said on Tuesday that a "big party" intervened to tilt the scale in favor of the Sadrist movement's candidate, Firag al-Kinani, in the third announcement, even though the first and second announcements showed her leading in the counts.

In a statement to Shafaq News Agency, Thamer said, "the first and second announcements of the Independent High Electoral Commission showed that I won the women's seat in the fifth constituency in Dhi Qar. However, the third announcement was a shock. My competitor, Firag al-Kinani, trumped me by 129 votes."

"The final record shows that the ballots of 74 Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) were not counted. The majority of those votes were mine."

"Five hours prior to the final announcement, sources close to my competitor leaked the total count of ballots cast to her. It turned out to be the same number announced by IHEC. This is proof that political parties are involved in stripping the seat from me."

Thamer said that she pursued today all the legal procedures to challenge the results to retrieve her right, as she put it.

Thamer, an unpaid lecturer, has won a seat in the recent parliamentary election in Dhi Qar. However, the third announcement revealed that the Sadrist movement's candidate has shouldered her and took the seat instead.