Shiites sweep to victory in Iraq

A Shiite-dominated ticket has won the January 30 elections for the National Assembly, winning over four million votes – or about 48% – of the ballots cast, officials said today.

A Kurdish alliance finished second with 2.175 million votes or 26 %, with 1.168 million – or 13.8 % – for interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi’s list.

Officials said 8.456 million votes were distributed among the 111 candidate lists.

The results indicate the Shiites will have to form alliances within the National Assembly to push through their agenda and select a president and prime minister.

The president and two vice presidents must be elected by a two-thirds majority.

However, the results point to a major victory for the country’s long-oppressed Shiite majority, oppressed under Saddam Hussein and deprived of national power since the establishment of the modern Iraqi state after World War I.

The figures also indicate that many Sunni Arabs stayed at home on election day - with fewer that 4,000 votes cast in Anbar province, a stronghold of the Sunni Muslim insurgency.

The election commission said parties have three days to lodge complaints before the results are considered official.

Here is a list of the political alliances that provisionally will receive seats in Iraq’s National Assembly and the seats they will receive, if the results are certified as they stand now:

The United Iraqi Alliance: 4,075,295 votes for 140 seats

The Kurdistan Alliance: 2,175,551 votes for 75 seats

The Iraqi List: 1,168,943 votes for 40 seats

Iraqis: 150,680 votes for five seats

The Turkomen Iraqi Front: 93,480 votes for three seats

National Independent Elites and Cadres Party: 69,938 votes for three seats

The Communist Party: 69,920 votes for three seats

The Islamic Kurdish Society: 60,592 votes for two seats

The Islamic Labour Movement in Iraq: 43,205 votes for two seats

The National Democratic Alliance: 36,795 votes for two seats

National Rafidain List: 36,255 votes for one seat

The Reconciliation and Liberation Entity: 30,796 votes for one seat

Total votes: 8,456,266

Invalid votes: 94,305.