The results of the local elections in Iraq are not the end of the road. The bigger test facing the Iraqi political forces will come after the emergence of the local results and the discovery of the changes that have taken place on the political map and which indicate larger variables to come.
Regardless of the reasons behind the change in the political map — be it in the popular position of the main political forces or in the electoral law — the fact remains that not only have the results of the recent local elections in Iraq reduced the space occupied by the parties that led local governments in Iraqi cities for years, but they also introduced to the political game a considerable set of new forces and independent figures. These figures would not have stood a chance of competing with major forces had it not been for the amendment of the electoral law.
