Ex-insurgency leader heads poll

A populist coalition organised by influential Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr emerged as the frontrunner yesterday with more than half the vote counted in Iraq’s national elections.

Partial returns from Sunday’s balloting – the first since Iraq declared victory over the Islamic State militant group – were announced by the country’s electoral commission and put alSadr’s political alliance in the lead in six provinces, including Baghdad.

Remembered for leading an insurgency against US forces and inciting sectarian bloodshed against the Sunni population, alSadr has in recent years sought to recast himself as a populist, railing against corruption and failing services and striking a political alliance with Iraq’s secularists and Communist Party.

None of the competing blocs appears on track to win a majority in parliament and name a prime minister. As the results stand, al-Sadr’s bloc will be able to take a leading role in the political horse-trading to find a compromise candidate.

Because al-Sadr did not run for a seat, he cannot become prime minister, but his deputies in parliament are expected to follow his directives. Al-Sadr commands the devotion of millions of Iraqis who sent their sons and husbands to fight for his militia from the early days of the US occupation. –AP