Iraq's prime minister has rebuked the United Nations for not backing his demand that the ballots from the country's March 7 parliamentary elections be recounted.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki speaks to the press in Baghdad, Iraq, on Friday. (Hadi Mizban/Associated Press)

The comments are the latest in what has become a campaign by Nouri al-Maliki to challenge election results showing him a close second to his chief rival, the Sunni-backed Ayad Allawi.

The campaign may herald a protracted political struggle and extended haggling that could undermine the credibility of Iraq's nascent democracy. It may also unleash a new bout of sectarian violence at a time when the U.S. is preparing to pull all its troops out of the country.

In remarks to the private Al-Sumariya TV late Sunday, al-Maliki criticized the UN mission in Iraq, which said the voting was transparent and fair, with no widespread fraud.

'The UN should have further encouraged the commission to carry out a recount.'—Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki

The incumbent premier also indicated his side still may form the next government as part of a larger alliance in the making.

Al-Maliki reprimanded UN envoy Ad Melkert for not pushing the electoral commission to approve the recount request for what al-Maliki's bloc has contended were irregularities and vote rigging. The commission, an independent body appointed by parliament, rejected the demand as unnecessary.

"I told him, 'If I were in your place and with so many problems having taken place, I would advise that all methods be used to assure the people that their votes are safe,"' said al-Maliki. "The UN should have further encouraged the commission to carry out a recount."

Multi-pronged challenge

Al-Maliki's recount demand is only one track of a multi-pronged effort that could bloc Allawi from attempting to form a new government and keep the incumbent in place.

Neither Allawi's bloc, with 91 seats in the 325-member assembly, nor al-Maliki's with 89, has an outright majority, but Allawi should be entitled to the first shot at forging a ruling coalition.

However, just before the final results were released, al-Maliki extracted a Supreme Court decision that allows alliances and super-coalitions — negotiated and formed after the elections — to form the next government if they have the largest number of parliament seats.

There has also been a push to have 50 candidates, mostly from Allawi's Iraqiya list, disqualified over alleged ties to Saddam Hussein's regime.

Al-Maliki has also opened negotiations with both Iraq's Kurdish Alliance and the Shiite religious bloc, two major groups whose votes he will need for any future government.