Iraq holds first national election since beating IS

Turnout a record low; no clear front-runner

BAGHDAD — Iraq saw a record low turnout Saturday in its first elections since the collapse of the Islamic State group, pointing to dissatisfaction with the direction of the country under Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi and presaging a long period of deal-making as politicians squabble over posts in a new government.

There were no bombings at any polling stations, a first since the U.S. invaded Iraq in 2003.

Al-Abadi called it a “historic day, spent peacefully by all Iraqis.”

Riyadh al-Badran, a member on Iraq’s national elections commission, said turnout was 44 percent. No election since 2003 saw turnout below 60 percent. More than 10 million Iraqis voted.

With no clear front-runner, it could take months for a new Parliament to form a government with a prime minister seen as suitable to the country’s rival Shiite political currents, who have adopted diverging positions on Iran.

The low turnout could open the door to Sunni-led and Kurdish electoral lists to play an outsized role in the talks. Iraq’s population is predominantly Shiite.

Results are expected within 48 hours according to the electoral commission. Despite presiding over Iraq’s war on the Islamic State group, al-Abadi was opposed by other Shiite leaders who eclipsed him in charisma and popularity. In his first term, Al-Abadi courted both U.S. and Iranian support in the war on IS.

His chief rivals were former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Hadi al-Amiri, who heads the Iran-backed Badr Organization militia, which participated in the war on IS.

Al-Abadi was also opposed by the influential cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, a nationalist who has railed against U.S. and Iranian influence.

Iraq is beset by chronic corruption, a sputtering economy and failing public services.

“The candidates have not done anything for the people,” said Ramadan Mohsen, 50, who said he cast a blank vote in Baghdad’s Sadr City slums.

Millions of others abstained.

“I am certain these elections are a failure,” said Abdelghani Awni, who was at a central Baghdad polling station as an observer. He did not vote. “Forget about change, from the perspective of the economy, of services ... forget about it.”

Some in Baghdad complained of voting irregularities at polling stations linked to a new electronic voting system implemented for the first time this year to reduce fraud.