Iraq elections: What to know as Sudani seeks second term
Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani is seen as the front-runner ahead of next week’s election, though the country may face another lengthy process of forming a government.
Iraqis will head to the polls on Nov. 11 for their first parliamentary election in four years, with the future of Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s development agenda and Iraq’s stability amid regional conflicts among the key issues at stake as some Shiite figures boycott the vote.
A total of 7,768 candidates are running on 90 electoral lists for the 329 seats in Iraq’s unicameral legislature, the Council of Representatives. Under the 2005 constitution, the president — elected by parliament for a four-year term — nominates a prime minister subject to parliamentary approval. President Abdul Latif Rashid was chosen as head of state in 2022.
The nominee for prime minister must come from the largest post-election coalition, though this does not necessarily mean the party that wins the most seats. Such coalitions are typically formed through extended negotiations among multiple parties.
Iraqi voters have traditionally backed parties aligned with their ethnic or religious communities, with power divided among Shiite Arabs, Sunni Arabs and Kurds, and quotas reserved for Christians, Yazidis and other minorities. Since 2005, an informal arrangement has assigned the presidency to a Kurd, the premiership to a Shiite, and the speakership of parliament to a Sunni.
