Iraq’s politicians have been vying to form a government since the parliamentary elections on March 7, 2010. Following the elections, there were many allegations of fraud; a subsequent recount confirmed the initial results.
A majority in the Parliament requires 163 of the 325 seats. According to the Iraqi constitution, the largest parliamentary bloc will choose the next prime minister. However, the constitution is unclear as to whether the largest bloc is defined as the bloc that won the most seats in the election or the coalition with a majority in Parliament.
Election Results
Iraqi National Movement (Iraqiya): 91 seats
State of Law: 89 seats
Iraqi National Alliance: 70 seats
Kurdistan Alliance: 43 seats
Change (Gorran): 8 seats
Iraqi Accordance (Tawafuq): 6 seats
Iraqi Unity (Bolani): 4 seats
Kurdistan Islamic Union: 4 seats*
Islamic Group of Kurdistan: 2 seats*
Designated for minorities: 8 seats
* results from Independent High Electoral Commission
Brief Description of Key Coalitions
Iraqi National Alliance (INA) - Formed before the March elections, the INA was built on the foundation of the United Iraqi Alliance (UIA), a coalition of Shia groups that won the most votes in 2005. The INA includes the Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq, the Badr Movement, the Sadr Movement, the Virtue Party, and other smaller Shi’a and Sunni parties. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki Al-Maliki’s Dawa party, which was part of the UIA, did not join the INA. In the March elections, the INA won 70 seats. In early May, the INA and the State of Law coalition (headed by al-Maliki) formed a new coalition, called the National Coalition, in an attempt to break the deadlock over elections. This has so far proven unsuccessful, and the INA recently broke off talks with State of Law, saying they wanted to nominate another candidate for prime minister instead of al-Maliki. The supporters of Moktada al-Sadr, an influential Shiite cleric whose Mahdi Army militia actively fought U.S. troops until two years ago, are still part of the INA. However, al-Sadr is opposed to al-Maliki’s re-election as prime minister. Sadr’s supporters won 39 out of the INA’s 70 seats.
Iraqi National Movement (Iraqiya) - Ayad Allawi, interim prime minister from June 2004 until the January 2005 elections, heads this largely secular and non-sectarian party. Iraqiya attracted the support of many Sunnis and is led by some high-ranking Sunni politicians including Tariq al-Hashemi, a former Iraqi vice president and head of the Renewal List. Two key politicians in the movement, Saleh Mutlak, head of the Iraqi National Dialogue Front, and Dhafir al-Ani, of the National Future Gathering, were barred from running by the Iraqi Justice and Accountability Commission because of their Baathist links.
State of Law Coalition - This coalition, led by current Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, is comprised of al-Maliki’s former Shi’ite Dawa party as well as parties from across ethnic and religious lines, including Sunni and secular groups. The party ran on a secular, nationalist platform. Since the election, it signed an agreement to merge with the other Shiite majority faction, Iraqi National Alliance, resulting in a new alliance within 4 seats of a parliamentary majority, but the INA recently broke off talks.
Democratic Patriotic Kurdistan Alliance - This coalition brings together the two main Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK). The Kurdistan Alliance is led by the respective parties’ leaders, current President of Kurdistan Massoud Barzani (KDP) and current Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (PUK). After the election, the Alliance formed a coalition with the other Kurdish parties that had run separately. The coalition includes Gorran, a new Kurdish reform group that won 25 percent of the vote in parliamentary elections in Kurdistan in 2009, but only 8 seats in the 2010 election. Both State of Law and Iraqiya have courted the coalition.
