BAGHDAD (Realist English). Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s political bloc won the most seats in Iraq’s parliamentary election, final results showed Monday, setting the stage for protracted negotiations to form a new government in a political landscape dominated by rival Shia factions, Sunni parties and Kurdish blocs.
Al-Sudani’s list secured 46 seats in the 329-member parliament, according to the election commission. The State of Law coalition led by former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki won 29 seats; the Taqaddum Party, with strong support in Iraq’s Sunni provinces, took 27 seats; and the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) finished close behind with 26.
Overall turnout reached 56.11%, the commission said.
Despite al-Sudani’s first-place finish, forming a government will require painstaking coalition-building that could take months. Parties within Iraq’s dominant Shia alliance — including groups with close ties to Iran — declared themselves the largest bloc after a meeting attended by al-Sudani and signaled plans to nominate a prime minister for the next phase.
The new government will inherit one of Iraq’s most sensitive strategic challenges: balancing US and Iranian influence while managing dozens of Iran-aligned armed groups that often operate independently of the central state. Washington has stepped up pressure on Baghdad to rein in or dismantle these militias, many of which reject US involvement and retain significant political leverage.
Al-Sudani is seeking a second term, but many younger Iraqis view the election as another opportunity for entrenched parties to carve up the country’s oil wealth rather than deliver reform. The prime minister has attempted to portray himself as a stabilizing leader capable of turning the country around after years of turmoil, insisting he has challenged the same political forces that helped elevate him to power.
With no bloc coming close to an outright majority, Iraq now enters another period of intense bargaining — a familiar cycle likely to determine the shape of the next government more than the vote itself.
