Iraq PM remains in power after parliamentary election

Iraqi election officials confirmed Wednesday that Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani will serve another term.  Al-Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Coalition won the most seats in Tuesday’s parliamentary election. About 56% of eligible Iraqi voters cast ballots in the election, which marked the sixth sanctioned vote since Saddam Hussein’s 2003 fall.

What did the election look like? Over 7,700 candidates across 69 political parties vied for the 329 total seats, according to the independent Iraqi news outlet Channel8. Officials set up about 8,500 polling stations across the country’s 18 provinces. While no party won an overall majority, Al-Sudani’s party won 46 seats, the most of any group.  

The Taqaddum party, known as the progress party, came in second place with 28 seats. The State of Law Coalition, led by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, received 27 seats, tying with the militant Sadiqoun Movement.  The Kurdistan Democratic Party, a separatist Kurdish-majority party in the north, marked the final group to win more than 20 seats. 

Members of the National Shiite Movement, also known as the Sadrist movement, boycotted the election. Iraqis under the major political bloc alleged that voting was pointless given the government’s sprawling corruption. Party leader, Muqtada al-Sadr, released a Tuesday statement insisting the boycott was only meant to preserve the nation. The only issue at the polls was low voter turnout, according to the translated statement.