BAGHDAD (AP) — The ultimate outcomes introduced by Iraq’s electoral fee on Tuesday confirmed Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr as the largest winner in final month’s vote, securing 73 out of Parliament’s 329 seats.
A Sunni get together headed by Parliament Speaker Mohamed al-Halbousi got here in second with 37 seats, whereas the Kurdistan Democratic Occasion (KDP) secured 31 seats, the fee mentioned.
The outcomes additionally confirmed that pro-Iran factions — which had alleged voter fraud — misplaced round two-thirds of their seats within the Oct. 10 elections. The faction generally known as the Fatah Alliance that represents the Shiite paramilitary group generally known as the Fashionable Mobilization Forces secured 17 seats, down from 48 within the final elections. Unbiased candidates drawn from the October 2019 protest motion who ran below the Imtidad checklist received 9 seats.
READ MORE: Early outcomes present file low turnout in Iraq’s election
Iraq’s election fee acquired greater than 1,000 complaints following the elections lodged by Shiite teams alleging vote fraud. Attraction procedures resulted in solely 5 seats being modified, in keeping with the fee, with the general outcome remaining roughly the identical.
The unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud have forged a shadow over an election that was praised by the USA, the U.N. Safety Council and others for being the smoothest in years and with out main technical glitches. Supporters of Iran-backed factions have staged a sit-in for weeks on the entrance to Baghdad’s Inexperienced Zone , protesting the outcomes.
The outcomes will now be despatched to the Federal Supreme Court docket for ratification, after which the president will name for a Parliament session inside 15 days, the place a brand new Speaker is elected.
The Oct. 10 vote was held months forward of schedule in response to mass protests in late 2019 that noticed tens of hundreds of individuals in Baghdad and predominantly Shiite southern provinces rally towards endemic corruption, poor companies and unemployment. In addition they protested towards the heavy-handed interference of neighboring Iran in Iraq’s affairs by Iran-backed militias.
