In the sixth round of Iraq’s parliamentary elections, armed groups affiliated with Iran’s regime won 58 parliamentary seats.
The results of the sixth parliamentary elections show that four armed groups, through their political branches, received more than 1.8 million votes.
The growing influence of these armed groups in Iraq’s parliament comes despite previous warnings from the United States urging the Iraqi government to disband them.
At the same time, news sources in Iraq confirmed internal disputes among Shia factions over a second term for Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani.
Iraq’s Election Commission had earlier told the Saudi-owned Al Arabiya network on November 16 that the parliamentary election results would be announced on Monday, November 17.
According to the commission, the results have been finalized, and appeals will be accepted for three days starting the day after the announcement.
Voting began on the morning of November 11. According to the Independent High Electoral Commission, 7,768 candidates were approved to compete for 329 parliamentary seats, including 2,248 women and 5,520 men.
The total number of eligible voters was announced as 21,404,291, divided among general voting, voting by military and security personnel, and voting by displaced persons.
The elections were held under the shadow of Iraq’s deep internal legitimacy crisis, the pervasive influence of Iran’s regime, and the uncertain future of Tehran’s proxy groups in the country.
According to the election commission, about 40% of registered candidates were under forty. Reuters wrote that this reflects “the new generation’s effort to challenge the political dominance of old power networks.”
Initial results indicated that al-Sudani’s coalition had won, and if Shia parties reached consensus, he could be selected for a second term as prime minister.
Al-Sudani, chosen in 2022 as a compromise candidate to end the political deadlock after the previous elections, centered his campaign on improving public services, fighting corruption, and strengthening state authority.
Since the fall of Iraq’s former regime, Iran’s regime has used its extensive influence to prevent the establishment of a democratic government. This political and military interference has contributed to the deaths of thousands of innocent people in the years following the war in Iraq.
