Asset Publisher

Country reports

Iraq after the Election: Transformation of the Political Landscape

by Nils Wörmer, Hannes Pichler

IRAQI ELECTION SURPRISES WITH UNEXPECTED RESULTS AND LOW VOTER TURNOUT

For the first time after the military defeat of the Islamic State (ISIL), national parliamentary elections were held in Iraq. Around 7,000 candidates, organized on 88 party lists, competed for 329 parliament seats in the election on May 12. When results are official, the new parliament will be appointed to form a new Iraqi government.

Asset Publisher

Preliminary Results

IHEC has published the preliminary election results on May 19. According to these results, Prime Minister Al-Abadi did not win any of the crucial constituencies, while Al-Sadr’s Sairoun Movement and Al-Ameri’s Conquest Alliance were successful in significant parts of the country. In predominantly Shiite Iraq, experts consider the Shiite provinces of the south to be the most important for the final outcome of the election. In these areas, Al-Sadr and Al-Ameri took the first ranks. Al-Abadi’s Victory Alliance only won in the predominantly Sunni province of Ninawa that was destroyed by ISIL. On a national level, however, the current Prime Minister lags behind Al-Sadr and Al-Ameri.

For now, this implies that a new power balance has been established in the Iraqi parliament, bringing with it a long government formation process with unclear results. Even in the past, the winners of the most votes or seats were not always able to form a majority government. The influence of external actors, especially the US and Iran, will also be crucial for the upcoming government formation process.

Preliminary results as of May 19, 2018:

Sairoun-Movement (Muqtada Al-Sadr): 54 seats

Conquest-Alliance (Hadi Al-Ameri): 47 seats

Victory-Alliance (Haider Al-Abadi): 42 seats

State of Law-Coalition (Nuri Al-Maliki): 26 seats

Democratic Party of Kurdistan (KDP): 25 seats

Al-Wataniya (Ayad Allawi): 21 seats

Hikma-List (Ammar al-Hakim): 19 seats

Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK): 18 seats

Please find the full version in the attached file.

Asset Publisher

comment-portlet

Asset Publisher

Asset Publisher