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On January 30, 2005, Legislative elections, the Iraqi people chose representatives for the newly-formed and transitional 275-member Iraqi National Assembly, which was renamed after the approval of the Iraqi Constitution by referendum in October 2005 to Council of Representatives of Iraq. The voting represented the first general election since the United States-led 2003 invasion of Iraq, and marked an important step in the transition of turning control of the country over from United States occupation forces to the Iraqis themselves.
The newly-elected transitional Assembly will write a new and permanent Constitution for Iraq and will also exercise legislative functions until the new Constitution comes into effect. Two parties supported by the majority Shi'a (or Shiite) Muslim community between them won a majority of seats, while parties representing the Kurdish community will also be strongly represented. Parties representing the Sunni Arab community boycotted the elections and some armed Sunni groups threatened election day violence. There were 44 deaths around polling stations in at least 9 separate attacks on election day. With a total of some 8.4 million votes cast, a 58 % turnout, the Iraqi Electoral Commission considers the election to have taken place without major disruption. Voter turnout ranged from 89 % in the Kurdish region of Dahuk to two percent in the Sunni region of Anbar.
Iraq's interim constitution, Law of Administration for the State of Iraq for the Transitional Period, requires a two-thirds majority of the new Assembly to select the new presidents, who will appoint the Prime Minister who will take office after receiving a simple majority vote of confidence from the Assembly. Eighteen Governorate Councils and a 111-member council of the Kurdistan Regional Government were also elected.
Results and turnout
Provisional results released on February 13 showed that the United Iraqi Alliance, tacitly backed by Shi'a leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, led with some 48% of the vote. The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan was in second place with some 26% of the vote. Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party, the Iraqi List, came third with some 14%. In total, twelve parties received enough votes to win a seat in the assembly.
Summary of the 30 January 2005 Iraqi legislative election results Parties and coalitions Votes % Seats LeadersUnited Iraqi Alliance 4,075,292 48.19% 140 Abdul Aziz al-Hakim, Ibrahim al-Jaafari,
Hussain al-Shahristani, Ahmed Chalabi
Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan 2,175,551 25.73% 75 Jalal Talabani, Masoud Barzani
Iraqi List 1,168,943 13.82% 40 Iyad Allawi
The Iraqis 150,680 1.78% 5 Ghazi al-Yawer
Iraqi Turkmen Front 93,480 1.11% 3 Farok Abdullah Abdurrahman
National Independent Cadres and Elites 69,938 0.83% 3 Fatah al-Sheikh
People's Union 69,920 0.83% 2 Hamid Majid Mousa
Islamic Group of Kurdistan 60,592 0.72% 2 Ali Abd-al Aziz
Islamic Action Organization In Iraq - Central Command 43,205 0.51% 2
National Democratic Alliance 36,795 0.44% 1
National Rafidain List 36,255 0.43% 1 Yonadem Kana
Reconciliation and Liberation Bloc 30,796 0.36% 1 Mishaan Jibouri
Iraq Assembly of National Unity 23,686 0.28% 0 Dr. Nehro Mohammed
Assembly of Independent Democrats 23,302 0.28% 0 Adnan Pachachi
Iraqi Islamic Party 21,342 0.25% 0 Mohsen Abdel-Hamid
Islamic Dawa Movement 19,373 0.23% 0 Adil Abd Al-Raheem
Iraqi National Gathering 18,862 0.22% 0 Hussein al-Jibouri
Iraqi Republican Assembly 15,452 0.18% 0 Sa'ad Al-Janabi
Constitutional Monarchy - Al-Sharif Ali bin Al-Hussein 13,740 0.16% 0 Sharif Ali bin Al-Hussein
Others 309,062 3.65% 0
Total 8,456,266 100.00 275
Invalid votes 94,305 —
The majority of the 111 lists that competed in the election did not win seats. The most prominent party to be excluded was the secular, but predominantly Sunni, Independent Democrats Movement led by former exile Adnan Pachachi. It only received some 12,000 votes. Other prominent parties that failed to win seats include the monarchist Constitutional Monarchy Movement, and the Movement of Free Military Officers and Civilians.
Disruption
Armed Islamist, Ba'athist and other groups, which have carried out a campaign of bombings and assassinations in Iraq since the beginning of the occupation in 2003 (see Iraqi insurgency), threatened to disrupt the elections by suicide bombing and other violent tactics.
Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, head of the al-Qaida affiliate in Iraq, said: "We have declared a fierce war on this evil principle of democracy and those who follow this wrong ideology. Anyone who tries to help set up this system is part of it". He also made it clear that al-Qaida opposes elections in Iraq because they will result in a Shi'a-dominated government. He alleged that "the Shiites aim to begin spreading their evil faith among people through money and fear," [1]
A rigid security clampdown succeeded in preventing major disruption of the polling. In most parts of the country Iraqis were able to vote freely. More than 100 armed attacks on polling places took place, killing at least 44 people (including nine suicide bombers) across Iraq, including at least 20 in Baghdad. However, threats by opponents of the election to "wash the streets in blood" were not fulfilled.
An unnamed al-Qaida affiliate dismissed the elections as "theatrics" and promised to continue waging "holy war" against coalition forces. "These elections and their results ... will increase our strength and intention to getting rid of injustice," read the statement, which was posted to an Islamist web site. [2].
Boycott and legitimacy
One challenge to the legitimacy of the election was the low Arab Sunni turnout, which was as low as 2 % in Anbar province. Areas with mixed populations saw the vast majority of voters back Shi'ite or Kurdish parties. The largest Arab Sunni party, The Iraqis, won only 1.78% of the vote (for comparison, Arab Sunnis are thought to be 20-30% of the population).
The boycott was largely a product of the threatened violence. The violence is centered in the Arab Sunni areas and the Arab Sunni party leaders felt that it would be impossible to hold fair elections in their areas. Major Arab Sunni parties such as the Iraqi Islamic Party and the Association of Muslim Scholars, boycotted the elections, as did some smaller groups such as the Worker-Communist Party of Iraq. The major Arab Sunni groups called for elections to be postponed until the safety of voters could be guaranteed. This call for a delay was supported by some in the west, but any such scheme was strongly opposed by the Shi'a parties. Despite the boycott and the resulting tiny Arab Sunni representation in the assembly, the major party leaders have assured the Arab Sunnis that they will have input into the new constitution. It is also expected that at least one of the major government positions will go to an Arab Sunni.
Small groups of protesters around the world marched in support of the boycott of the Iraq elections and against the U.S. occupation of Iraq. They claim that for an Iraqi election to have meaning the U.S. should not be "orchestrating the process". [3]
Scott Ritter has alleged that the U.S. has partially rigged the election to reduce the percentage won by the United Iraqi Alliance from 56% to 48%. No evidence has been provided to support these allegations. [4]
Monitoring
The election was monitored from outside of Iraq by the International Mission for Iraqi Elections[5] made up of members from nine nations and headed by Canada. It was supported by the United Nations but was not a UN operation. The UN recused itself from monitoring the election as it had played a central role in setting up the election. A number of UN staffers worked within the Iraqi electoral commission setting up the election and are considered by some to be de facto international observers. It proved impossible to find monitors that would actually monitor the election from within the country. Rather the IMIE observers were based in Amman, Jordan and monitored the election from there. There were also representatives in Baghdad, generally the staff in the embassies of the IMIE nations. The absentee poll held in fourteen countries around the world were monitored by a wide array of IGO and NGOs, but these groups were unwilling to monitor the election in Iraq itself.