Moqtada al-Sadr alliance takes lead in Iraqi elections

Partial results have shown that cleric Moqtada al-Sadr’s alliance is in the lead of Iraq’s parliamentary elections.

According to Iraqi electoral commission on early Monday, Sadr’s alliance with communists is closely followed by the Conquest Alliance led by former PMU commander Hadi al-Ameri.

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s Victory Alliance is in third place.

The announced results are from 10 of the country’s 19 provinces, including the capital Baghdad and Basra.

Iraqis voted on Saturday in the first national elections since the country declared complete victory over the terrorist Daesh group.

The electoral commission of Iraq announced that 44.5 percent of those eligible had cast their ballots in the elections.

Final results are expected on later Monday. Over 7,000 candidates contested 329 seats in the parliament that will choose a new president, premier and government in Iraq.

Among major challenges facing the new Iraqi premier is ensuring security and reconstructing the war-torn country.

Daesh unleashed a campaign of death and destruction in Iraq in 2014, overrunning vast swathes in lightning attacks. Iraqi army soldiers and allied fighters then launched operations to eliminate the terrorist group and retake lost territory.

Last December, al-Abadi declared the end of the anti-Daesh campaign in the Arab country. The group’s remnants, though, keep staging sporadic attacks across Iraq.