BAGHDAD — The political coalition of influential Shi’ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr took an early lead in Iraq’s national elections in partial returns announced late Sunday by the Iraqi electoral commission.
An alliance of candidates linked to Iraq’s powerful Shi’ite paramilitary groups was in second. The alliance is headed by Hadi al-Amiri, a former minister of transport with close ties to Iran who became a senior commander of paramilitary fighters in the fight against the Islamic State group.
Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi performed poorly across majority Shi’ite provinces that should have been his base.
The announcement came just over 24 hours after polls closed amid record low voter turnout. It included full returns from 10 of the 19 provinces, including Baghdad and Basra.
Members of the national election commission read out vote tallies for each candidate list in each of the 10 provinces on national TV. By the end of the announcement, Sadr’s list had the highest popular vote, followed by Amiri's.
Seats in Parliament will be allocated proportionately to coalitions once all the votes are counted. The commission gave no indication of when more results would be announced.
Celebrations erupted in Baghdad’s Sadr City, an impoverished quarter that is home to some 3 million people and is named after the cleric’s late father, Ayatollah Mohammad Sadq al-Sadr. The younger al-Sadr campaigned on a cross-sectarian platform of fighting corruption and investing in services and struck a surprising alliance with the Communist Party in the capital.
Abadi sought to retain his post as prime minister after overseeing the military defeat of ISIS, but faced stiff competition from his predecessor, Nouri al-Maliki, as well as Sadr and the Fatah alliance of candidates with paramilitary ties.
Many of the candidates on Fatah were militia commanders before they cut their official ties with the force in order to seek office.
Fatah’s strong result will be seen as a victory for Iran as it seeks to protect its interests in Iraq, including the militias that it finances.
Saturday’s election was the first since Iraq declared victory over Islamic State fighters and the fourth since the 2003 US-led toppling of the dictator Saddam Hussein. Officials said turnout was 44 percent, the lowest since Saddam’s ouster.
Any political party or alliance must gain a majority of 329 seats in Parliament to be able to choose a prime minister and form a government.
Until a new prime minister is chosen, Abadi will remain in office, retaining all his power.
