Baghdad governorate election, 2009

Baghdad Governorate election, 2009

31 January 2009

All 57 seats for the Baghdad Governorate council   First party Second party   Leader Nouri al-Maliki Ayad al-Samarrai Party State of Law Coalition Tawafuq Last election 11 0 Seats before 11 0 Seats won 28 7 Seat change 17 7 Popular vote 641,925 153,219 Percentage 37.9% 9% Swing 22.8% 9%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Muqtada al-Sadr Ayad Allawi Party Sadrist Movement Iraqi National List Last election 1 0 Seats before 1 0 Seats won 5 5 Seat change 4 5 Popular vote 151,093 148,133 Percentage 8.9% 8.7% Swing 6.9% 8.7%

Governor of Baghdad before election Hussein al-Tahan ISCI Subsequent Governor Salah Abd al-Razzaq State of Law Coalition

The Baghdad governorate election of 2009 was held on 31 January 2009 alongside elections for all other governorates outside Iraqi Kurdistan and Kirkuk.

Background

Two seats in Baghdad are reserved for minority religions: one for Christians and one for Sabeans.^[1] Over 3,000 candidates contested the 57 seats.^[2]

Campaign

A candidate for the Iraqi Islamic Party was killed outside his home in the al-Ameriya district.^[3]

Results

Sunni Arab residents of the Fadel district complained that they felt it was dangerous registering to vote because the office was in a neighbouring area that was Shiite dominated and they had to pass through two checkpoints. Many voters in that district were reported to have been turned away as they were not registered and turnout was less than 30%.^[4]

The Iraqi National List of former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi was said to have won most support in Fadel along with the Iraqi Communist Party. A local Sahwa official and former 1920 Revolution Brigade member said he knew former al-Qaeda in Iraq fighters who had voted for the INL.^[4]

In March, the State of Law Coalition said it would ally with the Iraqi National Dialogue Front.^[5]

 Summary of the 31 January 2009 Baghdad governorate election results

Coalition (2005/2009)		Allied national parties	Seats (2005)	Seats (2009)	Change	Votes	Party Leader
	State of Law Coalition	Islamic Dawa Party	11	28	+17	641,925	Nouri al-Maliki
	Iraqi Accord Front	Iraqi Islamic Party	-	7	+7	153,219	Ayad al-Samarrai
	Independent Free Movement List	Sadrist Movement	1	5	+4	151,093	Muqtada al-Sadr
	Iraqi National List	Iraqi National Accord	-	5	+5	148,133	Ayad Allawi
	Iraqi National Project Gathering	Iraqi National Dialogue Front	-	4	+4	113,787	Saleh al-Mutlaq
	Baghdad Nation / Al Mihrab Martyr List	SCIRI & Badr	28	3	-25	91,759	Abdul Aziz al-Hakim
	National Reform Trend	-	-	3	+3	71,663	Ibrahim al-Jaafari
	Ishtar Patriotic List (Assyrian seat)	BNDP	-	1	+1	4,334	Sarkis Aghajan
	List of Ali Hussein Zahroun Al-Saberi (Sabean seat)	-	-	1	+1	241	Ali Hussein al-Saberi
	Islamic Virtue Party	IVP	6	0	-6	22,921	Abd al-Rahim al-Hasini
	Iraqi Communist Party / Civilians	ICP	2	0	-2		Hamid Majid Mousa
	National Democratic Party	NDP	2	0	-2		Naseer al-Chaderchi
	Iraqi Independent Al-Bayan Gathering	-	1	0	-1
Total			51	57	+6	1,694,930
Sources: this article - [6]

See also

• Assyrian politics in Iraq#Iraqi Governorate Elections 2009

References

1. Iraqi parliament approves amendment for provincial election law, Xinhua, 2008-11-03
2. From bullets to ballot box – Iraq's violence-free election, The Scotsman, 2009-01-22
3. Poll candidates killed in Iraq , Al Jazeera, 2009-01-30
4. In Baghdad district, secular lists take the votes, Agence France-Presse via AAJ TV, 2009-02-01
5. New Alliances In Iraq Cross Sectarian Lines, Washington Post, 2009-03-20
6. final election results, Niqash, 2009-02-25