After Muqtada Al-Sadr's Surprise Win, Iraq's Political Leaders Try To Form Government
Two weeks after parliamentary elections delivered a surprise win for Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, Iraq's divided political leaders are scrambling to put together the pieces of a coalition government.
Sadr's Sa'iroun political bloc won 54 seats in Iraq's 329-member parliament – more than any other political grouping, but far from the majority needed to govern. Under Iraqi rules, the biggest coalition of any kind registered in parliament will form the government.
Shiite, Sunni, Arab and Kurdish political leaders have flocked to Baghdad for negotiations with other parties in an attempt to form a grouping big enough to form a majority but still hold together amid voters' demands for government reform.
Iraq's first post-ISIS elections were among the most peaceful since 2003. But they have been marred by serious allegations of fraud in the disputed city of Kirkuk
