Iraq's election result ratified by Supreme Federal Court as premiership remains up for grabs

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BAGHDAD (AP) — The result of last month’s parliamentary elections in Iraq was ratified by the Supreme Federal Court on Sunday, confirming that the party of caretaker prime minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani won the largest number of seats — but not enough to assure him a second term.

The court confirmed that the voting process met all constitutional and legal requirements and had no irregularities affecting its validity.

The Independent High Electoral Commission submitted the final results of the legislative elections to the Supreme Federal Court on Monday for official certification after resolving 853 complaints submitted regarding the election results.

Al-Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Coalition won 46 seats in the 329-seat parliament. However, in past elections in Iraq, the bloc taking the largest number of seats has often been unable to impose its preferred candidate.

The coalition led by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki won 29 seats, the Sadiqoun Bloc, which is led by the leader of the Asaib Ahl al-Haq militia, Qais al-Khazali, won 28 seats, and the Kurdistan Democratic Party, led by Masoud Barzani, one of the two main Kurdish parties in the country, won 27 seats.

The Taqaddum (Progress) party of ousted former Parliament Speaker Mohammed al-Halbousi also won 27 seats, setting the stage for a contest over the speaker's role.

By convention, the prime minister of Iraq is always Shiite, the president a Kurd, and the parliament speaker Sunni.

Overall, Shiite alliances and lists secured 187 seats, Sunni groups 77 seats, Kurdish groups 56 seats, in addition to 9 seats reserved for members of minority groups.

Al-Sudani came to power in 2022 with the backing of the Coordination Framework, a coalition of Iran-backed Shiite parties, but it is not clear whether the coalition will align behind him a second time.

With no single bloc able to form a government alone, political leaders have launched negotiations to build a ruling coalition.

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Martany reported from Irbil, Iraq.