Initial results in Iraq’s parliamentary elections show that the party of a nationalist Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr is poised to win a plurality of more than 70 among the 329 seats in the house, a significant gain from the 54 seats it has held since 2018. The party of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki appears to be in second place. Voter turnout was a record low 41%. Sadr is popular for his opposition to a US presence in Iraq, which he first announced in 2003. He is the son of famous Iraqi Shia cleric, the late Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Mohammad Sadeq al-Sadr. The parties that won seats in the election must now work to form a ruling government coalition and to name a prime minister.
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