Sources close to the coalition of Iraqi Prime Minister Muhammad Shia al-Sudani told Agence France-Presse that his list achieved a “major victory” in the parliamentary elections that took place yesterday, Tuesday.
An official close to the Prime Minister told the agency: “The Development and Reconstruction Bloc achieved a very large success,” while two other sources close to the list confirmed that it had most likely won “the largest parliamentary bloc,” with a number of approximately 50 seats or more.
The Independent High Electoral Commission in Iraq is expected to announce the preliminary results later this evening, Wednesday.
Al-Sudani emerged as a major political force in Iraq after coming to power three years ago with the support of the Coordination Framework Alliance, which includes Shiite parties and factions close to Iran.
Polling stations closed at six in the evening, after being open for 11 hours for more than 21.4 million registered voters to choose the House of Representatives for a four-year term.
After Parliament names the President of the Republic, the latter appoints a Prime Minister who will be the candidate of the “largest parliamentary bloc,” according to the Constitution, and who will be the actual representative of the executive authority.
In light of the impossibility of an absolute majority, any coalition capable of negotiating with allies to form the largest bloc will choose the next prime minister.
The process of naming the prime minister and forming the government is the most complex after the elections.
As in previous times, the parties belonging to the Shiite majority reached consensus to name a prime minister and form the government.
According to the customs followed in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein’s regime following the American invasion in 2003, the Shiite majority holds the Prime Minister’s Office, which is the most important position, and the Sunnis hold the House of Representatives, while the position of President of the Republic, which is largely symbolic, goes to the Kurds.
The participation rate exceeded 55 percent, according to the Independent High Electoral Commission. Thus, the participation rate is much higher than the 41 percent recorded in the last elections in 2021, despite the Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr’s boycott of the elections this year, and many Iraqis expressing their frustration at the possibility of the elections bringing about a real change in their lives, in light of the lack of new competing names emerging.
