Chamber:
	Majlis Watani
Dates of elections / renewal (from/to):
	24 March 1996
Purpose of elections:
	Elections were held for 220 of the 250 seats in Parliament. General elections had previously been held in April 1989, and the legislature's term had been extended several times after its normal expiry.
Background and outcome of elections:
	General elections had previously been held in April 1989, and the National Assembly's four-year term was extended twice, in 1993 and 1995. The campaign officially opened on 4 March. A total of 689 candidates contested the 220 seats at stake, which excluded 30 from three of the country's 18 provinces which were located in the semi-autonomous northern region controlled by the Kurdish minority. Of these candidates, independents outnumbered the 160 of the ruling Baath party. All those in contention had been approved beforehand by a committee chaired by the Justice Minister. On polling day, voter turnout was reportedly heavy, amounting to 93.5% of those registered. The first session of the newly elected Assembly took place on 8 April. Mr. Sadoon Hammadi was then elected Speaker.

STATISTICS

Round no 1 (24 March 1996): Elections results
Number of registered electors	8'000'000
Voters	7,480,000 (93.50 %)

Round no 1: Distribution of seats
Political Group	Total
Arab Baath Socialist Party	161
Independents	83
Kurdistan Democratic Party	3
Kurdistan Revolutionary Party	2
Iraqi Communist Party	1

Comments:
	Independents include 25 Kurds

Distribution of seats according to sex:
Men:	234
Women:	16
Percent of women:	6.40