Iraq’s dismal election prompts militias to threaten violence

ELECTIONS ARE supposed to be a smooth way to change power. In Iraq they seem to heighten hostilities. The vote on October 10th split the Shia majority between two snarling blocs. Muqtada al-Sadr, a gruff cleric-cum-militiaman popular with working-class Shias, emerged as the front-runner, with more than 70 of parliament’s 329 seats, a third more than his tally in the previous election, in 2018. His nearest Shia rival, Nuri al-Maliki, won about half as many. But within hours Mr Maliki, a besuited former prime minister, had assembled a coalition of Shia factions and militias friendly with Iran, topping Mr Sadr’s tally. Both men are claiming to have a mandate to form the next government.Much will depend on which side Iraq’s Kurds and Sunni Arabs take. Preliminary results suggest that Masoud Barzani’s Kurdistan Democratic Party has 32 of the 63 seats won by Kurdish parties, so he will probably style himself as a kingmaker. Sunni voters, previously more divided, rallied behind Muhammad al-Halbousi, parliament’s speaker, giving his party, Taqaddum, 38 seats.