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A policeman marks his ballot in a polling station in Baghdad - Source: Reuters -
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A rival party leader conceded that allies of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki had probably won Iraq's two most important cities in local polls, but said coalitions would still end up ruling in most places.
Ammar al-Hakim, a leader of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (ISCI), said a group led by Maliki's Dawa Party had won a landslide in provincial elections in the southern oil hub of Basra and may have come first in Baghdad. But outside Basra, no political group had gained enough votes to secure domination of the powerful provincial councils, meaning post-election coalition-building would be critical in deciding who picks regional governors.
The election was Iraq's most peaceful vote since the 2003 US-led invasion, boosting hopes that years of insurgency and sectarian slaughter between majority Shi'ites and Sunni Arabs are coming to an end. Official results are due on Thursday.
"Basra could have a majority of more than 50 percent for some of the entities," Hakim said in an interview. When asked which entity, he named Maliki's State of Law coalition.
ISCI, once the dominant Shi'ite party in Iraq, ran a campaign that appealed to Shi'ite religious identity. Maliki, also a Shi'ite, based his appeal to voters on security and nationalism.
Likely successor
Ammar al-Hakim is widely expected to succeed his father Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, who has cancer, as the leader of ISCI. "I do not believe anyone has achieved a landslide in Baghdad ... the State of Law could be ahead of the others in terms of seats, but from the available numbers, there is no landslide, and so coalitions are needed," Hakim said.
Coalitions played a big role in the formation of many of Iraq's incumbent provincial councils. Well funded and well organised, ISCI could use its cash and patronage to bring independents and smaller parties to its side.
Until Saturday's polls, ISCI had controlled most of the provincial councils in the mostly Shi'ite and oil-rich south.
Hakim said initial data pointed to the party having won more seats than in previous polls in 2005, but fewer than it had expected.
"The election campaigns, the nature of the crowd, and opinion polls that happened in recent days pointed to bigger gains than what was achieved, and this issue will be discussed internally," Hakim said.
One factor that may have affected the election was that some voters, ISCI says 10 percent, did not find their names on the electoral register and could not cast their ballot. ISCI said it would wait for the official election results before deciding how it would deal with the issue
