Iraqi PM Al Sudani rides high in election, leading in Shiite heartland

With no single party expected to win a majority, lengthy talks are expected between blocs

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  Supporters of Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani celebrate after the announcement of preliminary election results in Baghdad. AFP

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  Mr Al Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition was leading in the provinces of Baghdad, Karbala, Najaf, Al Muthana, Maysan, Al Qadissiyah, Babil and Dhi Qar, with 99.74 per cent of votes counted. AFP

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  An election party in Tahrir Square, Baghdad. AP

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  Security forces were present for the Tahrir Square celebration. AP

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  Supporters celebrated with flags and fireworks as the initial results were published. Reuters

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  The announcement of the preliminary results sets the stage for what could be tense and drawn-out negotiations among political blocs on forming the next government. AFP

Supporters of Iraq's Prime Minister Mohammed Shia Al Sudani have scored a sweeping election victory in Shiite-dominated provinces, according to preliminary results.

Mr Al Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Coalition was leading in the provinces of Baghdad, Karbala, Najaf, Al Muthana, Maysan, Al Qadissiyah, Babil and Dhi Qar, with 99.74 per cent of votes counted. His supporters were celebrating with flags and fireworks as the initial results were published.

Trailing behind him are former prime minister Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coalition, the National State Forces Alliance led by Shiite cleric Ammar Al Hakim, the Badr List led by senior politician Hadi Al Amiri, and Al Sadiqoun List, which is linked to an armed faction led by Shiite cleric Qais Al Khazali.

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Among Iraq's Sunnis, former parliament speaker Mohammed Al Halbousi’s Taqadum Coalition came first in his home province of Anbar, as well as Salaheddin, and second in Baghdad, Nineveh, Kirkuk and Diyala.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party, headed by prominent Kurdish politician Masoud Barzani, led in Erbil, Duhok and Nineveh, while its rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, came second in its home province of Sulaymaniyah.

“The Reconstruction and Development Coalition is open to all national forces without exception, and we will deal with them with a sense of objective and legal responsibility,” Mr Sudani said in a televised speech after the announcement of the initial results.

He called on other parties to “put the national interest above all else and to make dialogue and co-operation the sustainable national field to serve Iraqis”, adding that his aim “is to build a national understanding and to ensure everyone's genuine participation in decision-making”.

Iraq's electoral commission will announce the number of seats for each party when all ballots are tallied.

The announcement of the preliminary results sets the stage for what could be tense and drawn-out negotiations among political blocs on forming the next government.

Iraqi officials count ballots at a polling station in Al Muhandiseen district of Baghdad. AFP

It took a year after the 2021 elections to form a government. A breakthrough was reached when the Co-ordination Framework, an umbrella group of mainly Iran-backed political parties and armed factions, threw its support behind Mr Al Sudani.

About 12 million people turned out on Tuesday to elect MPs for Iraq's 329-seat legislature. The vote is the sixth for a full-term parliament since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein and was held at a time of growing disillusionment with the political elite.

The electoral commission increased on Wednesday the unexpectedly high turnout to 56.11 per cent after counting 99.98 per cent of the votes, despite a boycott led by influential cleric Moqtada Al Sadr. At the last parliamentary election in 2021, a record low 41 per cent of voters cast ballots.

Mr Al Sudani described the turnout as “clear evidence of another success, reflected in the restoration of confidence in the political system”.

The commission also said 40 complaints have been received regarding early voting for security forces and displaced families, which took place on Sunday, and 37 regarding the main balloting on Tuesday. No details were given on these complaints.

Young men remove electoral campaign posters after the closing of the polls in eastern Baghdad. AFP

The new parliament’s first task will be to nominate a speaker and then a president, who will in turn ask the largest bloc in parliament to form an administration.

Mr Al Sudani was widely viewed as the front-runner to be prime minister, but internal rivalries within Iraq's Shiite camp and possible disputes with Kurdish and Sunni partners could complicate his path.

There had been widespread fears that few voters would show up following weeks of calls for a boycott from the political movement of Shiite cleric Mr Al Sadr, which dominated the last parliament before it withdrew from politics last year.

Mr Al Sadr himself stepped back from the political process in 2021 after he failed to form a majority government following that year's election. He has lamented that Iraq's political elite have failed to control Iran-backed militias, remove Tehran’s influence or fight corruption.

The majority of the 7,744 candidates standing in this year's election are affiliated with sectarian and ethnic parties or coalitions. At least 25 per cent of the seats in parliament are reserved for women, while nine are held for religious minorities.

The main challenge for the next government will be addressing long-standing grievances over poor public services, corruption and unemployment – issues that have fuelled mass protests in recent years. The new administration will also need to maintain the delicate balance in ties between Iran and the US, the country's two main allies.