"Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki calls for the high electoral commission to immediately answer the demands of political parties to proceed with a manual recount," the statement said.
Latest figures by Iraq's election commission and based on 92 percent of ballots counted show Maliki's State of Law Alliance trailing the bloc of his main rival, Iyad Allawi, by 7,928 votes.
The statement added, noting that Al-Maliki remained head of the country's armed forces, that he wanted a recount to "protect political stability, avoid a degradation of the security situation and prevent a return to violence."
The statement did not specify whether he wanted a nationwide recount, or of particularly provinces.
It differs markedly from Al-Maliki's own comments just a week ago, when he said on television that election complaints were "very small" in nature and "cannot affect the results."
The bloc led by Al-Maliki's main rival on Sunday accused him of making a "clear threat" against the election commission by demanding a recount.
"This is a clear threat against the commission that aims to put pressure on it, in order to carry out fraud in favor of (Al-Maliki's) State of Law Alliance" said Intisar Allawi, a senior candidate of the Iraqiya bloc headed by Iyad Allawi.
She added that Al-Maliki's statement Sunday calling for a manual recount was a "contradiction" that was fueled by news that Iraqiya had taken the lead in the nationwide vote tally.
"While he says that the election is accurate, fair and transparent, when Iraqiya takes the lead, he accuses the commission," said Intisar Allawi, a relative of Iraqiya's leader.
She noted that a manual recount "would mean a delay of the results for several months. This would lead to a political vacuum that would affect the security situation."
