The Heat: Iraq’s parliamentary election

The Heat

Anand Naidoo

Anand Naidoo

Iraq election
Published June 29, 2018 at 4:40 PM
Updated July 2, 2018 at 11:26 AM

Iraq’s parliamentary election in May was supposed to determine the next government.

Marred by low voter turnout and charges of fraud, the vote is now subject to a recount of suspect ballots.

Preliminary results show the bloc led by radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, a longtime foe of the United States, finished first.

Iraq’s current Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, a U.S. ally, was third. Analysts said Sadr alone won’t have enough seats in parliament to form a government and determine the next Prime Minister.

With the unfinished recount, lots of intrigue remains.

CGTN’s Nathan King reports on the situation.

Follow Nathan King on Twitter@nathanking

  • Ahmed Rushdi is a senior policy adviser to the Speaker of the Iraqi Parliament, and the Director of the House of Iraqi Expertise Foundation.
  • Majeed Gly is a journalist and political analyst with the Rudaw Media Network.
  • Jonathan Broder is an award-winning journalist who spent two decades as a correspondent in the Middle East and Asia.
  • Mazin Al-Eshaiker served as an adviser to the Prime Minister of Iraq and currently heads the Injah Development Center, an economic policy group.

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