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This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
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Parliamentary elections were held inIraq on 15 December 2005, following the approval of a newconstitution in areferendum on 15 October.
The elections took place under a list system, whereby voters chose from alist of parties and coalitions. 230 seats were apportioned amongIraq's 18 governorates based on the number of registered voters in each as of theJanuary 2005 elections, including 59 seats forBaghdad Governorate.[1] The seats within each governorate were allocated to lists through a system ofProportional Representation. An additional 45 "compensatory" seats were allocated to those parties whose percentage of the national vote total (including out of country votes) exceeded the percentage of the 275 total seats that they had been allocated. Women were required to occupy 25% of the 275 seats.[2]
The change in the voting system gave more weight to ArabSunni voters, who made up most of the voters in several provinces.[citation needed] It was expected that these provinces would thus return mostly Sunni Arab representatives, after most Sunnis boycotted the previous election.[citation needed]
The deadline for registering parties and coalitions closed on 28 October. The Electoral Commission announced that 228 lists had been registered, including 21 coalitions.
The emerging Iraqi political scene was marked by groups of established parties running on joint lists, often grouped on sectarian or ethnic grounds. These lists are not necessarily stable, as the parties sharing a list may be past or present rivals; the situation will be even more complicated for the December 2005 election because parties can form different alliances in different governorates. The landscape is currently fluid; what follows is a list of some of the more important parties and coalitions, with a focus on alliances that have shifted since the January 2005 election.
This coalition, dominated by Shi'ite parties, was formed to contest the January 2005 election with the blessing ofAyatollahAli al-Sistani, the most senior Shi'itecleric based in Iraq. It won the most votes in that election and became the senior partner in the coalition government that ran Iraq for most of 2005. The UIA's main components were:
In advance of theDecember 2005 elections,Moqtada al-Sadr's party chose to join the Alliance. However, theIraqi National Congress and Iraqi Hezbollah left the Alliance to form their own lists.
In a blow to the Alliance,AyatollahAli al-Sistani announced that he would not back any particular party for the election; he merely encouraged people to vote "according to their beliefs." He is said to have been disappointed with the performance of the transitional government.
It was initially reported before the election that the UIA seats would be split between the parties as follows:
Analysis of the seat allocation after the elections showed that the 109 district seats and 19 compensatory seats won by the UIA were split as follows:
This Kurdish-dominated coalition was formed for the January 2005 election by the two main Kurdish parties—theKurdistan Democratic Party ofKurdistan Region PresidentMasoud Barzani and thePatriotic Union of Kurdistan of the transitionalIraqi PresidentJalal Talabani—plus some other smaller parties. The DPAK formed a coalition government with the UIA in the wake of the January 2005 elections.
This coalition will also contest the December elections, but the smallerKurdistan Islamic Union, who won 10 percent of the seats in theDahuk andSulaymaniyah governorate elections in January, has announced that it will form its own governmental lists.
TheIraqi List was established byIyad Allawi, who served as interim Prime Minister before the January 2005 election. It is dominated by hisIraqi National Accord party.
For the December 2005 election, it has joined forces withformer interim PresidentGhazi al-Yawar'sThe Iraqis list, thePeople's Union list (which is dominated by theIraqi Communist Party), and theSunni Arab politicianAdnan Pachachi and hisAssembly of Independent Democrats to form a single list called the Iraqi National List. This list will attempt to present a secular and trans-community alternative to the other major lists, which are more based on the support of a single ethnic or religious groups.
TheIraqi Islamic Party originally registered for the January elections but then decided to boycott the polls, which meant that it did not gain any seats. It has decided to participate in the December elections, forming a list called theIraqi Accord Front with two other smaller parties, the Iraqi Peoples' Gathering and the Iraqi National Dialogue. These parties aim to tap theSunni Arab vote; Sunni Arabs overwhelmingly boycotted the January election, but increased Sunni participation in theconstitutional referendum may indicate an increased Sunni turnout for the December elections, especially because more than 1,000 Sunni clerics called on their followers to vote, according toThe New York Times .[4] However, theAssociation of Muslim Scholars, which is influential in the Sunni community, has called for a boycott of the December elections, which could have an adverse impact on the Iraqi Accord Front's success.
| Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Iraqi Alliance | 5,021,137 | 41.19 | 128 | –12 | |
| Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan | 2,642,172 | 21.67 | 53 | –22 | |
| Iraqi Accord Front | 1,840,216 | 15.09 | 44 | New | |
| Iraqi National List | 977,325 | 8.02 | 25 | –15 | |
| Iraqi National Dialogue Front | 499,963 | 4.10 | 11 | New | |
| Kurdistan Islamic Union | 157,688 | 1.29 | 5 | New | |
| The Upholders of the Message | 145,028 | 1.19 | 2 | New | |
| Reconciliation and Liberation Bloc | 129,847 | 1.07 | 3 | +2 | |
| Iraqi Turkmen Front | 87,993 | 0.72 | 1 | –2 | |
| Rafidain List | 47,263 | 0.39 | 1 | 0 | |
| Mithal al-Alusi List | 32,245 | 0.26 | 1 | New | |
| Yazidi Movement for Reform and Progress | 21,908 | 0.18 | 1 | +1 | |
| Other parties | 588,348 | 4.83 | 0 | – | |
| Total | 12,191,133 | 100.00 | 275 | 0 | |
| Valid votes | 12,191,133 | 98.34 | |||
| Invalid/blank votes | 205,498 | 1.66 | |||
| Total votes | 12,396,631 | 100.00 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 15,568,702 | 79.63 | |||
| Source:IPU | |||||
On 22 December 2005 Sunni Arab and secular Shiite factions demanded that an international body review election fraud complaints, and threatened to boycott the new legislature. TheUnited Nations rejected the idea.
Large demonstrations broke out across Iraq on 23 December to denounce the elections. Protesters said that the elections were rigged in favor of the main religious Shiite coalition. Many Iraqis outside the religious Shiite coalition allege that the elections were unfair to smaller Sunni Arab and secular Shiite groups. As many as 20,000 people demonstrated after noon prayers in southernBaghdad. Over 2,000 people demonstrated inMosul, accusingIran of involvement in the election.
Sheik Mahmoud al-Sumaidaei of theAssociation of Muslim Scholars, a major Sunni clerical group, told followers during prayers at Baghdad'sUmm al-Qura mosque that they were "living a conspiracy built on lies and forgery."[5]
Violence in Iraq increased following the election on 15 December.[6] The president of the Students' Union ofMosul University, Qusay Salahaddin, was abducted and killed after leading a demonstration against the election results.[7] Approximately 2,000 students gathered at the mosque where his body was transported, accusing militia forces affiliated with one of the main parties in the Shiite Alliance bloc for Salahaddin's murder. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the killing.[8]
After six months of negotiations a "government of national unity" was agreed between theUnited Iraqi Alliance,Iraqi Accord Front,Kurdistani Alliance andIraqi National List, under the leadership of Prime MinisterNouri al-Maliki.
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