Shia cleric poised to sweep Iraq election as voter turnout hits new low

Shiacleric Muqtada al-Sadr'sparty swept an Iraqi election on Monday, coming first andincreasing the number of seats he holds in parliament, accordingto initial results, officialsand a spokesperson for the SadristMovement.

A count based on initial results from several provinces plusthe capital Baghdad, verified by local government officials,suggested Sadr had won more than 70 seats, which if confirmedcould give him considerable influence in forming a government.

However, Sadr's group is just one of several that will haveto enter negotiations to form a coalition capable of dominatingparliament and forming an administration, a period of jockeyingfor position that may take weeks or longer.

Sadr broadcast a live speech on state TV claiming victoryand promising a nationalist government free of foreigninterference.

"We welcome all embassies that do not interfere in Iraq'sinternal affairs," he said, adding that celebrations would takeplace in the streets "without weapons."

Shia groups have dominated since U.S. invasion

Iraq's Shiagroups have dominated governments andgovernment formation since the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 thattoppled Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein and catapulted the Shiamajority and the Kurds to power.

An official at Iraq's electoral commission said Sadr hadcome first but could not immediately confirm how many seats hisparty had won.

The official turnout figure of just 41 per cent, a record low, suggested theearly vote held under new rules billed by Prime MinisterMustafa al-Kadhimi as loosening the grip of political parties had failed to capture the imagination of the public, especiallyyounger Iraqis who demonstrated in huge crowds two years ago.

WATCH | Iraqis celebrate preliminary election results:

Supporters of Iraq's Sadr rejoice in streets after preliminary vote win

3 years ago

Duration 0:42

Iraqis celebrated in Baghdad's Tahrir Square after Shia cleric and Sadrist movement leader Muqtada al-Sadr appeared poised to win the national election.

Nothing foryouth, abstaining voter says

"I did not vote, to be honest. It is not worth it," HusseinSabah, 20, told Reuters in Iraq's southern port of Basra. "There isnothing that would benefit me or others. I see youth that havedegrees with no jobs. Before the elections, [politicians]allcame to them. After the elections, who knows?"

Kadhimi's predecessor resigned in 2019 after the authorities killed about600 protesters in a crackdown on demonstrations. The newprime minister called the vote months early to show that thegovernment was responding to demands for more accountability.

The protesters had demanded the overhaul of rules they saidconcentrated much power in the hands of sectarian parties.Kadhimi enacted a new voting law billed as assisting independentand local candidates.

Voting districts were made smaller, andthe practice of awarding seats to lists of candidates sponsoredby parties was abandoned.

The initial results also showed that pro-reform candidateswho emerged from the 2019 protests had gained several seats inthe 329-member parliament.

Iran-backed parties with links to militia groups accused ofkilling some of the people who died in the proteststook a blow, winning fewerseats than in the last election in2018, according to the initial results and local officials.

Kurdish parties won 61 seats, the results showed including32 for the Kurdistan Democratic Party, which dominates thegovernment of the autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, and 15 forits rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party.

Sunni parliament speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi's Taqaddumcoalition won 38 seats, Iraq's state news agency reported,making it the second largest in parliament. Former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's State ofLaw coalition came third overall with 37.

Sadr has increased his powerover the Iraqi state since coming first in the 2018 election, whenhis coalition won 54 seats.

The unpredictable populist cleric has been a dominant figureand often kingmaker in Iraqi politics since the U.S. invasion.

He opposes all foreign interference in Iraq, whether by theUnited States, against which he fought an insurgency after 2003,or by neighbouring Iran, which he has criticized for its closeinvolvement in Iraqi politics.

Sadr, however, is regularly in Iran, according to officialsclose to him, and has called for the withdrawal of U.S. troopsfrom Iraq, where Washington maintains a force of about2,500 ina continuing fight against Islamic State militants.

Elections in Iraq since 2003 have been followed byprotracted negotiations that can last months and serve todistribute government posts among the dominant parties.

The result on Monday is not expected to dramatically alterthe balance of power in Iraq or in the wider region.

Iraq has held five parliamentary elections, all won bycoalitions dominated by the Shiamajority,since the fall of Saddam Hussein.

Rampant sectarian violence unleashed during the U.S. occupationhas abated, and Islamic State fighters who seized a third of thecountry in 2014 were defeated in 2017. But many Iraqis say theirlives have yet to improve. Infrastructure lies in disrepair, andhealth care, education and electricity are inadequate.