IRAQ

ELECTIONS HELD IN 2005

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Chamber:

Transitional National Assembly

Dates of election / renewal (from/to):

30 January 2005

Purpose of elections:

Elections were held for all the 275 seats in the Transitional National Assembly.

Background and outcome of elections:

On 19 November 2004, the Iraqi Interim Government announced that elections for a 275-seat Transitional National Assembly (TNA) would be held on 30 January 2005. 25 per cent of the TNA's seats were reserved for women. Under United Nations Security Council Resolution 1546 of 8 June 2004, and the interim Constitution of the Iraqi Transitional Administrative Law, elections had to take place on or before 31 January 2005.

Following the announcement, in November 2004, an influential Sunni clerics' group, the Association of Muslim Scholars, called for a boycott of the elections, criticizing continuing violence in the town of Fallujah. According to an opinion poll in January 2005, only 9 per cent of Sunnis said they were likely to or would definitely vote, whereas 80 and 57 per cent of Shiites and Kurds intended to vote.

The main political forces included the Iraqi List, led by interim Prime Minister Iyad Allawi and Shiite cleric Abdel Aziz al-Hakim's United Iraqi Alliance. This alliance, formed in December 2004 by 22 Shiite parties, was believed to be supported by Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, the most senior Shiite cleric in Iraq. The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan presented candidates both for national and Kurdish regional elections, which were held on the same day as the national elections. Army officials, militia members and former representatives of the Baath Party were barred from running for election.

The elections were organized by the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) inside Iraq, and by the International Organization for Migration, in 14 countries for some 280,000 Iraqis living overseas. 156 political parties and over 7,000 candidates registered for the election.

More than 8.5 million of some 14.7 million registered voters turned out in Iraq, as well as some 93,000 Iraqis who cast their ballots overseas. The final turnout was 53.31 per cent. Fears of attacks on polling stations and ongoing fighting in some regions are thought to have reduced the turnout. On election day, 16 attacks were recorded across Iraq, killing at least 25 people.

The final results, released on 13 February 2005, gave the United Iraqi Alliance 140 seats, securing it a majority in the new Assembly. The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan came second with 75 seats, followed by Prime Minister Allawi's Iraqi List, 40. In all, 87 women won seats in the election, accounting for 32 per cent of the membership of the TNA.

On 16 March, the TNA met for the first time. On 6 April 2005, it elected Kurdish leader Mr. Jalal Talabani as President of Iraq, following the election of Mr. Hajim Al-Hasani as Speaker of the TNA. Extra time was required to reach agreement on the composition of the new government. Finally, the government was sworn in on 3 May 2005.

The main task of the TNA was to prepare a draft constitution by 15 August 2005, to be submitted for approval by referendum by 15 October 2005. Elections are to be held by 15 December, to pave the way for a new government by 31 December 2005.

STATISTICS


Round no 1 (30 January 2005): Election results
Number of registered electors		14'662'639
Voters		8'550'571 (58.32%)
Blank or invalid ballot papers		94'305
Valid votes		8'456'266
About 15.5 million Iraqis, including 1.2 million living outside the country, are eligible voters.



Round no 1: Distribution of votes

Political Group	Candidates	Votes	%
United Iraqi Alliance	228	4'075'295	48.19
Kurdish Alliance	165	2'175'551	25.73
Iraqi List of Iyad Allawi	233	1'168'943	13.82
Iraqis	80	150'680	1.78
Turkomen Iraqi Front		93'480	1.11
National Independent Elites and Cadres Party		69'938	0.83
Islamic Labor Movement in Iraq		43'205	0.51
Islamic Kurdish Society		60'592	0.72
Communist Party		69'920	0.83
National Democratic Alliance		36'795	0.44
National Rafidain List		36'255	0.43
Reconciliation and Liberation Entity		30'796	0.36


Round no 1: Distribution of seats

Political Group				Total
United Iraqi Alliance				140
Kurdish Alliance				75
Iraqi List of Iyad Allawi				40
Iraqis				5
Turkomen Iraqi Front				3
National Independent Elites and Cadres Party				3
Islamic Labor Movement in Iraq				2
Islamic Kurdish Society				2
Communist Party				2
National Democratic Alliance				1
National Rafidain List				1
Reconciliation and Liberation Entity				1

Comments:

Source:
Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq (http://www.ieciraq.org)
CNN
BBC

- Ms. Lamia Abed Khadouri, a member of former Prime Minister Iyad Allawi's coalition, was killed on 27 April 2005.
- Mr. Dhari Ali al-Fayadh, a member of the ruling coalition, was killed by a car bomb attack together with his son and his three bodyguards on 28 June 2005.
- Mr. Faris Nasir Hussein, a member of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan party, was killed along with his brother and their driver on 18 September 2005.

A total of 280,303 Iraqis overseas in the following countries were registered to vote:
- Australia: 11,806
- Canada: 10,957
- Denmark: 12,983
- France: 1,041
- Germany: 26,416
- Iran: 60,908
- Jordan: 20,166
- Netherlands: 14,725
- Sweden: 31,045
- Syria: 16,581
- Turkey: 4,187
- United Arab Emirates: 12,581
- United Kingdom: 30,691
- United States of America: 25,946

Distribution of seats according to sex:

Men:

188

Women:

Percent of women:

31.64

Distribution of seats according to age:

Distribution of seats according to profession:

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