Iraq announces final results of October parliament election

The political bloc led by Shia leader Muqtada al-Sadr was confirmed the winner of the October parliamentary election.

Iraq’s independent election commission announced the final results on Tuesday following weeks of recounting and intensified rejection from the losing parties.

Five seats changed as a result of the appeals and recounting process in the capital; Baghdad, Nineveh, Erbil, Kirkuk and Basra.

“We have committed ourselves to dealing with the election results in accordance with the law, and with utmost integrity and impartiality,” said Jalil Adnan Khalaf, chairman of the election commission’s Board of Commissioners, at a press conference.

The election results have reconfirmed the win of al-Sadr, a prominent Shia cleric whose political bloc, the Sadrist Movement, won a total of 73 out of the 329 seats in the incoming parliament.

Al-Fatah alliance, sustained its crushing loss and snatched 17 seats – no change from the initial results, despite its repetitive call for a recount over alleged “fraud”.

The number for the Taqadum, or Progress Party-led by current Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi, a Sunni – remained the same, 37 seats. Former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law party lost two seats and will have 33 in parliament.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) captured 31 seats, and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) received 18.