Comment 4 for bug 971599

Sorry for missing that comment in the bug description - but all the same, it's invalid. The ia32-libs-multiarch package is perfectly installable in precise.

$ sudo apt-get install ia32-libs
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree
Reading state information... Done
The following extra packages will be installed:
  bluez-alsa:i386 glib-networking:i386 gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3:i386
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-base:i386 gstreamer0.10-plugins-good:i386
  gstreamer0.10-x:i386 gtk2-engines:i386 gtk2-engines-murrine:i386
  gtk2-engines-oxygen:i386 gtk2-engines-pixbuf:i386 gvfs:i386 gvfs-libs:i386
  ia32-libs-multiarch:i386 ibus-gtk:i386 libaa1:i386 libaio1:i386 libao4:i386
  libasn1-8-heimdal:i386 libatk1.0-0:i386 libaudiofile1:i386
  libavahi-client3:i386 libavahi-common-data:i386 libavahi-common3:i386
  libavc1394-0:i386 libcaca0:i386 libcairo-gobject2:i386 libcairo2:i386
  libcanberra-gtk-module:i386 libcanberra-gtk0:i386 libcanberra0:i386
  libcap2:i386 libcapi20-3:i386 libcdparanoia0:i386 libcroco3:i386
  libcups2:i386 libcupsimage2:i386 libcurl3:i386 libdbus-glib-1-2:i386
  libdv4:i386 libesd0:i386 libexif12:i386 libgail-common:i386 libgail18:i386
  libgconf-2-4:i386 libgcrypt11:i386 libgd2-xpm:i386 libgdbm3:i386
  libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0:i386 libgettextpo0:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386
  libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386 libglu1-mesa:i386
  libgnome-keyring0:i386 libgnutls26:i386 libgomp1:i386 libgpg-error0:i386
  libgphoto2-2:i386 libgphoto2-port0:i386 libgssapi-krb5-2:i386
  libgssapi3-heimdal:i386 libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0:i386
  libgstreamer0.10-0:i386 libgtk2.0-0:i386 libgudev-1.0-0:i386
  libhcrypto4-heimdal:i386 libheimbase1-heimdal:i386 libheimntlm0-heimdal:i386
  libhx509-5-heimdal:i386 libibus-1.0-0:i386 libidn11:i386 libiec61883-0:i386
  libieee1284-3:i386 libjasper1:i386 libk5crypto3:i386 libkeyutils1:i386
  libkrb5-26-heimdal:i386 libkrb5-3:i386 libkrb5support0:i386
  libldap-2.4-2:i386 libllvm3.0:i386 libltdl7:i386 libmad0:i386
  libmikmod2:i386 libmpg123-0:i386 libnspr4:i386 libnss3:i386 libodbc1:i386
  liboil0.3:i386 libopenal1:i386 liborc-0.4-0:i386 libp11-kit0:i386
  libpango1.0-0:i386 libpixman-1-0:i386 libproxy1:i386
  libpulse-mainloop-glib0:i386 libpulsedsp:i386 libqt4-designer:i386
  libqt4-opengl:i386 libqt4-qt3support:i386 libqt4-scripttools:i386
  libqt4-svg:i386 libqt4-test:i386 libqtwebkit4:i386 libraw1394-11:i386
  libroken18-heimdal:i386 librsvg2-2:i386 librsvg2-common:i386 librtmp0:i386
  libsane:i386 libsasl2-2:i386 libsasl2-modules:i386 libsdl-image1.2:i386
  libsdl-mixer1.2:i386 libsdl-net1.2:i386 libsdl-ttf2.0-0:i386
  libsdl1.2debian:i386 libshout3:i386 libsoup-gnome2.4-1:i386
  libsoup2.4-1:i386 libspeex1:i386 libsqlite3-0:i386 libssl0.9.8:i386
  libssl1.0.0:i386 libstdc++5:i386 libtag1-vanilla:i386 libtag1c2a:i386
  libtasn1-3:i386 libtdb1:i386 libtheora0:i386 libudev0:i386
  libunistring0:i386 libusb-0.1-4:i386 libv4l-0:i386 libv4lconvert0:i386
  libvisual-0.4-0:i386 libvisual-0.4-plugins:i386 libvorbisfile3:i386
  libwavpack1:i386 libwind0-heimdal:i386 libx11-xcb1:i386 libxaw7:i386
  libxcb-glx0:i386 libxcb-render0:i386 libxcb-shm0:i386 libxcomposite1:i386
  libxcursor1:i386 libxdamage1:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxft2:i386
  libxinerama1:i386 libxml2:i386 libxmu6:i386 libxp6:i386 libxpm4:i386
  libxrandr2:i386 libxslt1.1:i386 libxtst6:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386
  odbcinst1debian2:i386 xaw3dg:i386
Suggested packages:
  murrine-themes:i386 kde-config-gtk-style:i386 libpam-ldap:i386
  libpam-winbind:i386 libnss-ldap:i386 libroar1:i386 libsndio0:i386
  roaraudio-server:i386 libcanberra-pulse:i386 cups-common:i386 libdv-bin:i386
  pulseaudio-esound-compat:i386 rng-tools:i386 libgd-tools:i386 libglide3:i386
  gnome-keyring:i386 gphoto2:i386 gtkam:i386 krb5-doc:i386 krb5-user:i386
  gstreamer-codec-install:i386 gnome-codec-install:i386
  gstreamer0.10-tools:i386 libjasper-runtime:i386 libmyodbc:i386
  odbc-postgresql:i386 tdsodbc:i386 ttf-baekmuk:i386 ttf-arphic-gbsn00lp:i386
  ttf-arphic-bsmi00lp:i386 ttf-arphic-gkai00mp:i386 ttf-arphic-bkai00mp:i386
  libraw1394-doc:i386 librsvg2-bin:i386 hpoj:i386 hplip:i386
  libsane-extras:i386 sane-utils:i386 libsasl2-modules-otp:i386
  libsasl2-modules-ldap:i386 libsasl2-modules-sql:i386
  libsasl2-modules-gssapi-mit:i386 libsasl2-modules-gssapi-heimdal:i386
  speex:i386
Recommended packages:
  x-ttcidfont-conf:i386 xml-core:i386
The following NEW packages will be installed:
  bluez-alsa:i386 glib-networking:i386 gstreamer0.10-fluendo-mp3:i386
  gstreamer0.10-plugins-base:i386 gstreamer0.10-plugins-good:i386
  gstreamer0.10-x:i386 gtk2-engines:i386 gtk2-engines-murrine:i386
  gtk2-engines-oxygen:i386 gtk2-engines-pixbuf:i386 gvfs:i386 gvfs-libs:i386
  ia32-libs ia32-libs-multiarch:i386 ibus-gtk:i386 libaa1:i386 libaio1:i386
  libao4:i386 libasn1-8-heimdal:i386 libatk1.0-0:i386 libaudiofile1:i386
  libavahi-client3:i386 libavahi-common-data:i386 libavahi-common3:i386
  libavc1394-0:i386 libcaca0:i386 libcairo-gobject2:i386 libcairo2:i386
  libcanberra-gtk-module:i386 libcanberra-gtk0:i386 libcanberra0:i386
  libcap2:i386 libcapi20-3:i386 libcdparanoia0:i386 libcroco3:i386
  libcups2:i386 libcupsimage2:i386 libcurl3:i386 libdbus-glib-1-2:i386
  libdv4:i386 libesd0:i386 libexif12:i386 libgail-common:i386 libgail18:i386
  libgconf-2-4:i386 libgcrypt11:i386 libgd2-xpm:i386 libgdbm3:i386
  libgdk-pixbuf2.0-0:i386 libgettextpo0:i386 libgl1-mesa-dri:i386
  libgl1-mesa-glx:i386 libglapi-mesa:i386 libglu1-mesa:i386
  libgnome-keyring0:i386 libgnutls26:i386 libgomp1:i386 libgpg-error0:i386
  libgphoto2-2:i386 libgphoto2-port0:i386 libgssapi-krb5-2:i386
  libgssapi3-heimdal:i386 libgstreamer-plugins-base0.10-0:i386
  libgstreamer0.10-0:i386 libgtk2.0-0:i386 libgudev-1.0-0:i386
  libhcrypto4-heimdal:i386 libheimbase1-heimdal:i386 libheimntlm0-heimdal:i386
  libhx509-5-heimdal:i386 libibus-1.0-0:i386 libidn11:i386 libiec61883-0:i386
  libieee1284-3:i386 libjasper1:i386 libk5crypto3:i386 libkeyutils1:i386
  libkrb5-26-heimdal:i386 libkrb5-3:i386 libkrb5support0:i386
  libldap-2.4-2:i386 libllvm3.0:i386 libltdl7:i386 libmad0:i386
  libmikmod2:i386 libmpg123-0:i386 libnspr4:i386 libnss3:i386 libodbc1:i386
  liboil0.3:i386 libopenal1:i386 liborc-0.4-0:i386 libp11-kit0:i386
  libpango1.0-0:i386 libpixman-1-0:i386 libproxy1:i386
  libpulse-mainloop-glib0:i386 libpulsedsp:i386 libqt4-designer:i386
  libqt4-opengl:i386 libqt4-qt3support:i386 libqt4-scripttools:i386
  libqt4-svg:i386 libqt4-test:i386 libqtwebkit4:i386 libraw1394-11:i386
  libroken18-heimdal:i386 librsvg2-2:i386 librsvg2-common:i386 librtmp0:i386
  libsane:i386 libsasl2-2:i386 libsasl2-modules:i386 libsdl-image1.2:i386
  libsdl-mixer1.2:i386 libsdl-net1.2:i386 libsdl-ttf2.0-0:i386
  libsdl1.2debian:i386 libshout3:i386 libsoup-gnome2.4-1:i386
  libsoup2.4-1:i386 libspeex1:i386 libsqlite3-0:i386 libssl0.9.8:i386
  libssl1.0.0:i386 libstdc++5:i386 libtag1-vanilla:i386 libtag1c2a:i386
  libtasn1-3:i386 libtdb1:i386 libtheora0:i386 libudev0:i386
  libunistring0:i386 libusb-0.1-4:i386 libv4l-0:i386 libv4lconvert0:i386
  libvisual-0.4-0:i386 libvisual-0.4-plugins:i386 libvorbisfile3:i386
  libwavpack1:i386 libwind0-heimdal:i386 libx11-xcb1:i386 libxaw7:i386
  libxcb-glx0:i386 libxcb-render0:i386 libxcb-shm0:i386 libxcomposite1:i386
  libxcursor1:i386 libxdamage1:i386 libxfixes3:i386 libxft2:i386
  libxinerama1:i386 libxml2:i386 libxmu6:i386 libxp6:i386 libxpm4:i386
  libxrandr2:i386 libxslt1.1:i386 libxtst6:i386 libxxf86vm1:i386
  odbcinst1debian2:i386 xaw3dg:i386
0 upgraded, 162 newly installed, 0 to remove and 41 not upgraded.
Need to get 51.3 MB of archives.
After this operation, 168 MB of additional disk space will be used.
Do you want to continue [Y/n]?

So whatever problem you're encountering is not a bug in ia32-libs.

Feel free to attach the output of 'sudo apt-get install ia32-libs-multiarch:i386' for debugging.