Cleric Muqtada al Sadr’s party proclaims victory in Iraq elections

The preliminary results on Iraq grant the victoria in the elections this Sunday to the party of the popular clergyman Muqtada al Sadr, which has already been proclaimed the winner by obtaining 73 seats out of 329 that they form the Parliament and to be, therefore, “the greater block”.

Al Sadr has delivered a speech on Monday in which he insisted that they are “the largest parliamentary bloc,” for which he has invited his followers to celebrate. In his speech, the leader of the movement has also addressed the international community to warn “not to interfere in Iraqi affairs or in the formation of a new government.”

On the other hand, he has asked that the weapons be confiscated by the State, “even those of those who demand resistance,” according to the Kurdish television network Rudaw.

The elections this Sunday have registered the lowest turnout since the fall of the Saddam Hussein regime in 2003, of around 41%.

A crowd of followers of the cleric have packed into the central Tahrir Square of Baghdad, where they have chanted slogans in favor of the cleric Muqtada al Sadr and have launched fireworks.

The early elections of this Sunday were summoned in response to the demands of the hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who staged a wave of protests in October 2019 to demand more services and an end to endemic corruption in Iraq.

The EITB Media Middle East correspondent, Mikel Ayestarán, is following the elections live from Baghdad.

#bagdad October 12 °

I open the thread with the coverage of the day with the electoral hangover in #Iraq

1- Al Sadr repeats victory and the parties of the militias loyal to # Iran pic.twitter.com/QNOUCl3IoU

– mikel ayestaran (@mikelayestaran) October 12, 2021