Breakdown Of The Iraq Election Results

Analyzing the returns from Iraq’s May 2018 parliamentary elections shows some interesting trends. First, the most well organized parties did the best. Some lists were focused upon the wrong themes, and there was widespread charges of fraud.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 21

1847 Treaty of Arzurum tried to set border between Ottoman Empire and Persia

            Gave Sulaymaniya to Ottomans Shatt al-Arab to Persia

1847 Treaty of Arzurum set up commission to demarcate border between Ottomans and

            Persia but never finished

1919 UK PM George abrogated Long-Berenger UK-French oil deal due to disagreement

with France over Iraq-Syrian border George wanted Iraq to extend to Mediterranean

1928 British official said Iraqi provincial administrators picked who would be elected to

            parliament

1941 Iraqis launched counterattack attempting to retake Fallujah from British Entered

            town

1941 German planes bombed UK air base at Habaniya for a second day

1970 Pres Bakr issued Agrarian Reform Law to increase living conditions

            for peasants and increase farm production

1974 UN Sec Gen said Iran and Iraq agreed to withdraw forces and open talks over

            border disputes

1987 2^nd phase of campaign to destroy Kurdish villages started

1991 Kuwait asked for half of Iraq’s oil earnings as reparation for invasion

1999 UN Res 1242 renewed Oil For Food Program for 6^th months

2002 Gen Franks lied to press saying he had no Iraq war plans and had not been

            asked to make any

2003 Dep Sec Def Wolfowitz ordered army to help CPA with staff and

            contracting because CPA undermanned

2003 Report CIA believed 3 trailers found in Iraq were mobile WMD labs Sec of

            State Powell talked about in UN speech

2003 Report that US showed picture of trailers to Iraqi in Germany known as

            CURVEBALL who confirmed they were WMD labs

2004 CPA set up group to integrate militias into ISF never happened

2006 Report Iran thought to have trained 40,000 militia in Iraq

2006 Report US failed to adequately plan to rebuild Iraqi police After invasion

            went through 3 failed plans By 2004 only sent 500 police advisers for all of Iraq

2008 CENTCOM commander Gen Dempsey said ISI at its weakest point in Iraq

2008 US commander for northern Iraq said attacks in Mosul down 85% after

            Mother of Two Springs op there

2008 Pres Talabani said Iraq would be able to handle its own security without help

            of US after 2008

2010 Reports that both Iran and US supported 2^nd term for Maliki

2012 KRG announced energy deals with Turkey Baghdad warned KRG it could not sign

            independent oil deals with Turkey

2012 Oil Min Shahristani ordered ministry to stop petrol deliveries to KRG Would

            later deny he gave order

2013 Sheikh Hayes threatened to tear down protest tents in Ramadi if didn’t disperse

            after attacks on ISF and kidnappings

2013 KRG said it wanted to build a second independent oil pipeline to Turkey

2015 Asaib Ahl Al-Haq blamed US and Abadi for fall of Ramadi Claimed US had

            kept Hashd out

View the Iraq History Timelines 

Musings On Iraq In The News

I was quoted by Wladimir van Wilgenburg in "Experts: Low voter turnout shows disappointment of Iraqis in political system" for The Region, and by Paul Iddon in "Would a Kurdish speaker in Iraq's parliament change Kurd's fortunes in Baghdad?" for Rudaw.

Seat Allocation Announced For Iraq’s New Parliament

(Getty Images)

Iraq’s Election Commission announced the seat allocation amongst the winning lists. The previous results, which just covered which parties won in each province did not include the early votes case by the Iraqi Security Forces. Moqtada al-Sadr’s alliance with the Communists Sairoon remained in first place with 54 seats. It was followed by the pro-Iran Hashd Fatah with 47 seats, and Prime Minister Haidar Abadi’s Nasr with 42 seats. Vice President Nouri al-Maliki’s State of Law moved up. Previously its best finish was 3^rd in Baghdad. The extra votes moved it into fourth overall with 26 seats. The Kurdish vote was divide this year. The Kurdistan Democratic Party got the most seats with 25, followed by 18 for the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, 5 for Gorran, 2 each for the Coalition for Democracy and Justice, the Kurdistan Islamic Union, the Kurdistan Islamic Group, and the New Generation. After the disastrous independence referendum, the KDP and PUK are attempting to rejoin national politics. The other major lists were Vice President Iyad Allawi’s Wataniya that got 21 seats, Ammar Hakim’s Hikma with 19, and Vice President Osama Nujafi’s Qarar with 13. The final results have still not been certified as there will likely be court cases against the results. The Kurdish opposition, Arabs and Turkmen are all accusing the PUK of cheating in Kirkuk for example. Some other parties are threatening lawsuits as well in other provinces.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 20

1941 German planes attacked British Habaniya air base in Anbar

1950 1^st flight of Near East Air Transport Took Iraqi Jews to Israel Airline was

            owned by Jewish Agency who worked to get Jews to move to Israel

1950 When Israel created Iraqi govt banned immigration Mar 1950 govt allowed

temporary immigration for one year Stripped Jews of Iraqi citizenship and govt confiscated their property

1982 Iraq counterattacked against Iran’s Op Jerusalem in Khorramshahr

1984 Iraq sank Panamanian oil tanker in Persian Gulf in tanker war

1985 Iranian offensive into Iraqi southern marshes to seize Basra-Baghdad

            highway ended in failure

1985 Saudis offered peace deal while Prince Faisal visited Iran Rejected by Tehran

1987 Iraq ended 1^st phase of attacks upon Kurdish villages

1991 Bush said he would oppose lifting sanctions on Iraq as long as Saddam

            was in power

1994 SCIRI claimed start of military campaign in Maysan marshes against Iraqi

            govt forces

1996 Iraq and UN signed memo allowing Oil for Food program

2002 Rumsfeld asked Gen Franks to plan for a fortress Baghdad scenario

2003 Iraqis met with British rep to Iraq and demanded an interim govt

2003 US forces arrested Saddam’s Min of Industry Hwaish and VP Marouf

2004 CIA and US military raided Chalabi’s home in Baghdad Accused him of

providing intel to Iran Chalabi claimed it was retaliation for his criticism of US

2004 US had arrest warrant for INC intelligence head Habib but he’d fled

2004 US called off assault on Mahdi Army in old city Karbala

2004 NSC meeting asked what would happen if new sovereign Iraq asked US to

            leave

2004 Report US interrogators told guards at Abu Ghraib prison to strip prisoners make

            them wear women’s close before questioning

2004 US army admitted lost Red Cross reports of abuse at Abu Ghraib prison due to

            bureaucracy

2005 US 1^st Cav Div collected more than 100 abuse cases by ISF over 6 months

            including beatings, electrocutions, choking in Baghdad

2005 US 3^rd Inf Div collected 28 cases of abuse by Iraqi units in Baghdad

2006 1^st Maliki cabinet approved but with no Interior Defense or National

            Security Ministers

2006 Interior Min Jabr switched to Finance Min in new cabinet because he allowed Badr

            Brigade to take over ministry and police under Jaafari govt

2006 Maliki laid out 33 point program with terrorism fighting corruption and services

            top 3

2006 Defense Min adviser said violence so bad in Basra murderers were running free

2007 Hezbollah operative Daqduq captured Was liaison between Iran and militias

2008 Mother of Two Springs op ended in Mosul without success

2008 4,000-5,000 soldiers deployed to Sadr City after Sadr ceasefire finally took

            effect

2009 Report only 17,000 of 94,000 Sahwa given govt jobs so far

2010 Sadr said he was returning to Iraq after leaving for Iran in 07 over fear of US

assassination during Surge

2010 Sadr leader said that Sadrists opposed 2^nd term for Maliki

2010 US said Iran training and arming militiamen to destabilize Iraq

2010 KRG said it would start oil exports the next day and Baghdad okayed it

            Demanded Baghdad pay oil companies in KRG

2011 5 Madhi Army commanders escaped Taji prison

2012 PUK and KDP Finance Ministries said they had merged

2012 KRG said it was building independent oil pipeline to Turkey Said it would reach 2

            mil/bar/day in production by 2014 Didn’t make that mark

2012 Meeting of political leaders decided to hold off on no confidence vote against

            Maliki

2013 ISIS launched 11 car bombs leaving 137 dead

2013 Maliki said some of the fake bomb detectors worked 20-50% of the time

2013 Anbar councilman said foreign companies were fleeing province due to

            increasing violence

2013 Cabinet announced provincial elections in Anbar and Ninewa would occur

            Jun 20

2014 Iraqi intel warned army that large ISIS attack on Mosul coming in June

2014 Iraqi army said it was surrounding Fallujah

2014 KRG parliament voted Qubad Talabani Dep PM

2014 Electricity and Municipality depts. in Sulaymaniya protested over not being

            paid salaries

2014 KRG oil started being loaded on tanker in Turkey for first time

2015 Gorran said it would support extending Pres Barzani’s term if KRG switched to

            parliamentary system

2016 Sadrists took over Green Zone for second time Led to clash with ISF 4 protesters

            killed

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Review Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The Nationalist Movement in Iraq 1939-1941

Review Hamdi, Dr Walid, Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The Nationalist Movement in Iraq 1939-1941, London: Darf Publications Ltd., 1987

The government of Prime Minister Rashid Ali al-Gaylani and the Golden Square officers are an important, yet little known period of Iraqi and World War II History. At the very start of the war, a small group of pan-Arabist army officers backed Premier Gaylani who overthrew the monarchy, and aligned the country with the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. The draw wasn’t fascism, but rather the belief that the war offered their country a means to escape British hegemony, which remained after London created Iraq and ruled it as mandate from 1920-32. That led to a war with German and Italian intervention, which Iraq lost. While there are a few other books that cover this period, Rashid Ali al-Gailani, The Nationalist Movement in Iraq 1939-1941 is the most extensive and focuses upon the Iraqi rather than the British side of the conflict.

This Day In Iraqi History - May 19

1941 British took Fallujah from Iraqi forces after heavy bombing Was necessary

to cross Euphrates to move onto Baghdad 300 Iraqis captured

(Musings On Iraq article on 1941 Battle of Fallujah)

1941 Iraqi command found out about loss of Fallujah and decided to launch

            counterattack

1941 Iraq Def Min Shawkat returned from Turkey Was accused of being a traitor by

            Golden Square officers for talking about mediation with England Fled to Turkey

1941 Mullah Mustafa Barzani arrived in Sulaymaniya after escaping Baghdad

1958 Ahmad Baban became premier Was a Kurd

1992 Kurds held election for 105 seat regional parliament and leader 7 parties ran 4

            candidates for leader

1992 KDP won 51 seats PUK 49 in new Kurdish parliament Barzani gave 1 seat to PUK

            to maintain Kurdish unity

1997 KDP attacked PKK in Irbil with support of Turkey 53 KDP and 58 PKK killed

2003 ORHA head Garner told Congress ORHA was ad hoc and didn't have enough time

            to plan for postwar Iraq

2003 10,000 Sadrists protested in Baghdad against US occupation

2003 500 Iraqis protested outside Green Zone over pending disbandment of army

2003 CPA head Bremer sent Sec Def Rumsfeld final draft of order to disband Iraqi

            military

2003 US intel paper to White House said captured Iraq trailers were mobile WMD

            labs

2004 Dep Sec of Defense Wolfowitz told Congress no timeline for U.S. withdrawal

            from Iraq

2004 US soldiers involved in Abu Ghraib prison abuse sentenced one year in prison

2005 Report that US attempt to push ISF into lead in war failing because Iraqi forces

            not ready yet

2007 US killed Asaibh Al Ahl-Haq’s Karbala commander Dulaimi in raid

2009 Pentagon said foreign fighters still coming to Iraq from Syria and Iranian

            weapons still being found

2009 US organized meeting between Sahwa and govt after 17 Sahwa leaders arrested

2010 Talks held between Hadbaa and Kurds over Ninewa provincial council which

            Kurds had boycotted since 09 elections

2011 Twin bombs in Kirkuk left 120 casualties

2012 Sadr called conference with Kurds Speaker Nujafi Ahmed Chalabi about

            Maliki

2012 Ayatollah Haeri called on Sadr to stop trying to divide Shiites showing Iran’s

            displeasure with moves against Maliki

2012 France’s Total announced talks with KRG about oil deals there over objections

            of Baghdad

2012 Protest in Basra against Turkey hosting wanted ex-VP Hashemi

2013 Provincial election results finalized State of Law won 112 seats Down from 126

            in 2009

2013 Maliki responded to protest movement Said provinces could become regions if

            followed constitution

2013 Sheikh Saadi religious leader in Anbar protests said he gave up on his initiative to

hold talks with Baghdad

2014 Election results announced with Maliki’s State of Law coming in first

2014 Sulaymaniya Educ dept went on strike over not getting paid and protests in 2

            towns over lack of services in KRG

2014 ISF went on rampage in Khalis, Diyala after checkpoint attacked burned mosque

            fields 2 houses

2015 State of Law MP said Iraq should rely on Iran not US for military aid Claimed

            fall of Ramadi proved US helping IS

2015 Hashd spokesman claimed retaking Ramadi would be easier than Tikrit

2016 ISF freed Rutba, Anbar from IS opening road from Baghdad to Jordan

View the Iraq History Timelines