Chamber:
	Majlis Watani
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	1 April 1989
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for all the seats in Parliament after postponement of the poll since 1988. General elections had previously been held in October 1984.
Background and outcome of elections:
	Originally set for August 1988, the election date was postponed several times, owing partly to uncertainty over the course of the Gulf war. It was ultimately fixed on 31 January 1989 in order to "provide more chances for those who want to stand". Of the 921 candidates for the Assembly's 250 seats, it was reported that one-fourth were members of the ruling Arab Baath Socialist Party and 65 were women. The remainder were either independents or members of groupings affiliated to the umbrella National Progressive Patriotic Front. All candidates were screened by an election committee headed by Mr. Izzat Ibrahim, the Vice-Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC), which is the highest authority in the country. Mr. Ibrahim stated that the Government had embarked on a course of democratization and liberalization to redraft the Constitution and pave the way for multi-party elections. The National Assembly was therefore regarded as a transitional body until the adoption of a new Constitution. According to voting results, the majority of the new Deputies were Baath partisans. The first post-election parliamentary session took place on 12 April, when the Speaker was chosen. The Prime Minister (also President and Chairman of the RCC since 1979) is Mr. Saddam Hussain.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (1 April 1989): Elections results
Voters	7,171,000 (approx.)

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Arab Baath Socialist Party	207
Independents and minor parties	43

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	223
Women:	27