The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) will announce final results from the October 10 vote after judicial authorities close a review of received appeals, assistant of the commission’s spokesperson Nibras Abu Souda told the Iraqi News Agency (INA).
Iraq held its parliamentary election last month, and the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced official preliminary results a week later, giving parties the option to file complaints. The commission completed an inspection and manual recount of votes from thousands of stations that were the subject of complaints on November 8. Most of the appeals were rejected for lack of evidence or detail.
If the judiciary completes the study of appeals and complaints soon, and does not issue a decision of recounting votes then “the results will be announced soon,” a member of the commission's media team Imad Jamil also told state media on Saturday.
Preliminary results showed the Sadrist movement, Taqadum, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) and the State of Law Coalition securing the most parliamentary seats. Iran-backed parties affiliated with the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF, or Hashd al-Shaabi) performed poorly in the election, and the Fatih Alliance lost by one of the widest margins, reducing its seats in the legislative body from 48 to 15.
PMF supporters rejected the results in repeated protests, calling for a new or recount of votes. Souda said “the commission will close the file of appeals completely,” indicating that the commission will not repeat the process of manually counting votes.
Over 100 people, mostly from the security forces, were injured and at least one killed on November 5 when protesters tried to storm the heavily fortified Green Zone, home to government offices and diplomatic missions. Days later, an explosive-laden drone was used to attack the residence of Prime Minister Mustafa al-Kadhimi in what security forces called an assassination attempt.
Once the election results are ratified by the Supreme Court, a process of forming the government will take motion, as dictated by the constitution. Within 15 days of the ratification of the results, the president will call for a parliamentary meeting chaired by its eldest member to elect a speaker and two deputies by an absolute majority. The parliament also elects a president by a two-thirds majority.
The president will then task the largest bloc in the parliament with forming the government, naming a prime minister within 15 days of the election of the president. The prime minister-elect then has 30 days to name a cabinet.
