ERBIL, Kurdistan Region - Incumbent Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s ticket is projected to secure a strong lead in the capital city Baghdad and several other provinces, according to projections compiled by Rudaw, as official results of the key parliamentary elections are set to be released “in the evening on Wednesday.”
Based on projections from Rudaw after counting votes at 1,874 polling stations, Sudani's Reconstruction and Development Coalition (RDC) list has garnered over 322,000 votes. It is followed by former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition (2006–2014), which received over 166,000 votes.
Emerging in third place is the Takaddum Front, led by influential Sunni politician Mohammed al-Halbousi, who served as parliament speaker between 2018 and 2023, securing over 153,000 votes.
In fourth place, the National State Forces Alliance, which brings together senior Shiite cleric and politician Ammar al-Hakim and former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi (2014-2018), received nearly 100,000 votes. It is followed by the Sadiqoon Bloc, an affiliate of the Asa’ib Ahl al-Haq armed group, with over 91,000 votes.
Baghdad is the largest constituency, holding 71 out of 329 seats in the Iraqi legislature.
Over 47 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the eastern Rusafa and western Karkh districts of the capital on Tuesday. Rudaw projects that a significant portion of Baghdad’s turnout favored Sudani’s ticket, giving the incumbent prime minister an upper hand in the city once official results are confirmed.
Additionally, data compiled by Rudaw indicates that Sudani’s list achieved a landslide victory in Iraq’s southern provinces of Najaf and Karbala.
Sudani on Tuesday described the turnout as "another step towards protecting the democratic constitutional system" of Iraq.
Earlier on Wednesday, Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) revised the voter turnout rate in Iraq’s general and early elections to 56.11 percent after counting 99.98 percent of the total votes. The Commission added that the results would be released in “an official [press] conference on Wednesday evening.”