Iraq election ends without majority, PM's coalition leads

Baghdad: The Iraqi electoral commission announced the final results of the November 11 parliamentary elections, confirming a strong performance by Prime Minister Mohammed Shia' Al-Sudani's political coalition.

During a televised press conference, the Independent High Electoral Commission released the detailed results, revealing only minor adjustments from the preliminary count announced earlier, Xinhua news agency reported.

The final tally showed that al-Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Coalition secured 46 seats in the 329-member Council of Representatives, Iraq's parliament, followed by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition with 29 seats, and former Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi's Taqaddum (Progress) Alliance with 27 seats.

The strong result for al-Sudani's coalition solidifies his position as a central figure in the forthcoming negotiations.

No majority bloc

With no single bloc winning an outright majority, forming a ruling coalition is a critical next step in Iraq's democratic process.

Leaders of the Coordination Framework, an alliance of Shiite factions, on Monday held their first meeting since the vote.

The Coordination Framework “has signed off on forming the largest parliamentary bloc, which includes all of its entities,” the alliance said in a statement.

It added that the newly formed bloc will nominate the next premier.

In a related development, the Iraqi Federal Supreme Court ruled earlier Monday that the government must assume a caretaker status following the conclusion of the outgoing parliament's term.

The caretaker government's powers are limited to day-to-day affairs, with a prohibition on long-term decisions such as treaty signings, loan contracts, or senior official appointments.

The country's president will remain in office until the new parliament is formed.