Counting of ballots during Iraq's parliamentary elections on Tuesday Nov. 11, 2025 in Baghdad, Iraq. (Photo: Ahmad al-Rubaye/AFP)
Iraq's parliamentary election on Tuesday Nov. 11 was expected to be the least attended in years. Growing frustration with a corrupt political class and a general lack of trust in the electoral process had predicted an anemic turnout, continuing a steep drop in participation rates since the first vote in participatory elections in 2005.But, against all odds, the Iraqi High Electoral Commission announced on Tuesday evening a turnout exceeding 55 percent, defying the most pessimistic predictions of as low as 30 percent. In the last elections, the official turnout had been 41 percent.A victory for the outgoing prime minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, whose entourage is already proclaiming a sweeping victory at the polls. "If we take this figure as a verified fact, then it's a huge success for the Iraqi authorities," concedes...
Iraq's parliamentary election on Tuesday Nov. 11 was expected to be the least attended in years. Growing frustration with a corrupt political class and a general lack of trust in the electoral process had predicted an anemic turnout, continuing a steep drop in participation rates since the first vote in participatory elections in 2005.But, against all odds, the Iraqi High Electoral Commission announced on Tuesday evening a turnout exceeding 55 percent, defying the most pessimistic predictions of as low as 30 percent. In the last elections, the official turnout had been 41 percent.A victory for the outgoing prime minister Mohammad Shia al-Sudani, whose entourage is already proclaiming a sweeping victory at the polls. "If we take this figure as a verified fact, then it's a huge success for the Iraqi authorities,"...
