2025 Iraqi parliamentary election

The 2021 Iraqi parliamentary election resulted in violent protests in Baghdad as well as a political crisis of eleven months. On 3 August 2022, Muqtada al-Sadr called for snap elections, but was unsuccessful. Muqtada al-Sadr left politics and his party resigned from the Council of Representatives. There was speculation he would return to politics ahead of the elections but in July 2025, Sadr announced that he will boycott the elections. ==Electoral system==

The electoral system was changed following the 2018 parliamentary elections amid the protests from 2019 to 2021. Previous parliamentary elections had been held using proportional representation, with seats allocated using the Webster/Sainte-Laguë method, using governorates as constituencies. As a result, the 2021 parliamentary elections were held using single non-transferable vote in 83 multi-member constituencies. For the 2025 parliamentary elections, the proportional representation system was reintroduced, with seats allocated using the modified Webster/Sainte-Laguë method with a divisor of 1.7, in 18 constituencies corresponding to Iraq's governorates (excluding Halabja). 83 seats are reserved for women, 9 seats are reserved for minorities (five for Christians and one each for Yazidis, Shabaks, Mandaeans and Feyli Kurds). ==Conduct==

Advanced voting was conducted for 1.3 million members of the security forces and 26,500 internally displaced persons at 906 polling stations on 9 November. The Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced that preliminary results would be released in the evening of 12 November. That same day, the electoral commission announced an unexpectedly high turnout of over 56%, considerably higher than the 41% seen in the 2021 election. Some Iraqi political analysts observed that turnout was actually closer to 38% because the electoral commission's figure was based on the proportion of registered voters who had voted, and not the number of eligible voters comprising the total electorate. 9 million eligible Iraqi voters did not register to vote, which according to Erika Solomon and Falih Hassan, writing for The New York Times, is due to "low confidence in the Iraqi democratic process". Iraqi political scientist Ihsan al-Shammari said of the reportedly high turnout: "This is intentional obfuscation of participation to boost [the participating political parties'] legitimacy." == Results ==

Early reports on 12 November saw multiple parties claiming electoral success. In particular, Prime Minister Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Coalition was, according to sources close to Sudani, set to secure the largest number of seats, with approximately 50 seats. Rudaw similarly projected Sudani's parliamentary group would finish first in Baghdad while achieving a 'landslide' victory in Iraq’s southern provinces of Najaf and Karbala. For its part, the Badr Organization told Rudaw that it expected to win between "22 and 27" seats, including 9 in Sunni-majority northern provinces and 12 in Baghdad and the Shiite-majority south. This would mark an improvement on its 2021 showing of 17 seats. In Kurdistan Region, media reported a dominant performance from the Kurdistan Democratic Party, winning over 1 million votes (compared to 782,000 in 2021), with its main Kurdish rival, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, winning around half the number. On 17 November 2025, IHEC announced that Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Coalition topped the final results with 46 seats in the 329-member Council of Representatives, followed by the Progress (Taqaddum) party of former Parliament Speaker Mohamed Al-Halbousi with 36 seats, and the State of Law Coalition of former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki with 29 seats. Subsequently, the Shia-led Coordination Framework declared that it had constituted itself as the largest parliamentary bloc by uniting its component parties, thereby positioning itself as a central force in government formation and parliamentary negotiations. On 14 December 2025, the Federal Supreme Court of Iraq ratified the election results confirming that the Reconstruction and Development Coalition won the most seats. Out of 329, Shi'i parties secured 187 seats, Sunni parties 77 seats, Kurdish parties 56 seats and the rest, 9 seats in total, were allocated to minority groups. Results by governorate == Aftermath ==

Reactions International Two days before the elections, Esmail Baghaei, spokesman for the Iranian Foreign Ministry, accused the United States of "interfering in Iraq's electoral process" despite "Iran routinely facing accusations of interfering in Iraq's affairs," stating: "Any foreign interference in this process is condemned and rejected by the Iraqi people, the government of this country, and other responsible countries. American interference is definitely harmful." On 12 November, the French Government released a statement welcoming the legislative elections of the previous day and celebrating the "smooth unfolding" of the elections, stating that it "is consistent with the progress that Iraq has made on the political and security fronts." The statement reiterated France's support for Iraq in strengthening its institutions and its role in regional peace and stability. On the same date, the European Union commended the Iraqi people for exercising their right to vote and highlighted the potential stemming from the election to strengthen Iraq's institutions, inclusivity, and accountability. The statement "welcomed" the efforts of various Iraqi authorities and civil society bodies in facilitating the vote and the resultant increased turnout compared to 2021 and 2018. The EU reaffirmed its commitment to Iraqi's unity, sovereignty, and territorial sovereignty as an EU partner. US special envoy to Iraq Mark Savaya, hailed the elections as a "clear sign" of progress. He commended Prime Minister Sudani and his government and reiterated America's support to "end external interference and armed militias." United Nations General Secretary António Guterres called for a swift formation of Iraq's next government, lauding the calm and orderly elections as "effective" and reaffirming his organisation's support for Iraq. Internal On 13 November, the day after preliminary results were announced, Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council called on the winners of the election to quickly begin negotiations to form the country's next legislature and government within constitutional timelines. Following the preliminary results, Kataib Hezbollah (who ran under the Hoquq Movement parliamentary list) Secretary General Abu Hussein al-Hammidawi said many of the winning candidates shared the ideologies of the Islamic Resistance, while also celebrating the increased turnout. Speaker of the Council of Representatives, Mahmoud al-Mashhadani, similarly called for newly elected political blocs to expedite government formation within constitutional timelines, emphasising that swift coordination among political forces was necessary to maintain stability and public confidence. Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) President Masoud Barzani congratulated the people of "the Kurdistan Region and Iraq" on the "success" of the elections, thanking the KDP's leadership, members, supporters, and security forces for facilitating the election and for delivering the success of the party's "One Million Votes and More" campaign. Government formation Following the announcement of the preliminary result, Sudani congratulated his supporters on his coalition having secured victory in the election. Meanwhile the Shiite Coordination Framework was preparing to declare itself the largest parliamentary bloc and would be in a position to form the government. Mukhtar al-Moussawi, a senior Badr Organisation official and Coordination Framework leader, told Shafaq News that CF affiliated parties had won enough seats to control the legislature and select the next prime minister without the participation of Sudani's Reconstruction and Development coalition. Though Sudani's previous administration hinged on support from the Coordination Framework, senior Iraqi politicians told Agence France-Presse that the Coordination Framework is divided over supporting a second term for Sudani, with Nouri al-Maliki, whose State of Law coalition holds around 27 seats, opposed to the move. A senior Iraqi politician told the Financial Times that Maliki "would rather die than see Sudani come back as PM." France24 reported that "long-term powerbrokers, including from the Coordination Framework" worry Sudani has amassed too much power in his first term and that his office may have wiretapped the phones of politicians. Ali Hussein, KDP Political Bureau member, expressed his party's desire for an alliance between the Kurdish parties to strengthen their stance in negotiations advocating for Kurdish "constitutional rights". In December 2025, Asa'ib Ahl al-Haq, Kata'ib Sayyid Al-Shuhada, Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya and Kata'ib al-Imam Ali announced their willingness to disarm, while Kata'ib Hezbollah and Harakat al-Nujaba refused, saying "weapons will remain [in our hands], and no discussions with the government can take place before the departure of all occupation forces, NATO troops, and Turkish forces, and before ensuring the protection of the people and the sacred sites from extremist groups". The head of Iraq's judiciary, chief justice Faiq Zaidan thanked faction leaders for heeding his advice to "coordinate together to enforcing the rule of law, restrict weapons to state control, and transition to political action after the national need for military action has ceased", in a separate announcement, the Supreme Judicial Council stated that the chief justice's intervention was to remind political actors to uphold Article 9 of the Iraqi constitution, which "prohibits the formation of armed militias outside the framework of the state". On 24 January 2026, the Coordination Framework nominated, by a simple majority vote, former PM Nouri al-Maliki for the premiership. The decision was reportedly influenced by the latter's "political and administrative experience and his role in managing the state". Immediately afterwards, US President Donald Trump threatened to block Iraq's access to the petrodollar in the event that it goes ahead with the nomination. On 3 March 2026, the Coordination Framework withdrew al-Maliki’s nomination. On 13 April 2026, deliberations within CF were still ongoing with names such as the current premier al-Sudani, former PM Haidar al-Abadi, Iraqi National Intelligence Service director Hamid al-Shattri and national security advisor Qasim al-Araji being considered. Nouri al-Maliki was reportedly still considered a candidate. On 27 April 2026, CF announced the nomination of businessman Ali al-Zaidi for the premiership. The president then formally named him and he subsequently became tasked with forming the government. ==Notes==