The Iraqi legislative elections were boycotted by 59% of the citizens. The population is aware that the system is rigged, that foreign powers are calling the shots, that corruption is rife among the elites and that the militias do not abide by the law. It therefore lends no credibility to so-called democratic institutions.

The 41% of voters who showed up at the polls upset the political balance. The party of Muqtada el-Sadr (nationalist Shiite) [photo] received the largest number of votes. The party of Council Speaker Mohamed Al-Halbousi (nationalist Sunni) came in second followed by the PDK of Massoud Barzani (Kurdish, separatist), while former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki (Shiite, pragmatic) made a powerful comeback.

The big loser is the pro-Iran Fatah Alliance (16 seats versus 48 in 2018). It denounced the election as a scam and refuses to accept the official results.