THE ELECTION: Voters elected a 275-member National Assembly and 18 provincial legislatures. People in the Kurdish-ruled region of northern Iraq also chose a new parliament.
ASSEMBLY'S ROLE: The National Assembly will elect a largely ceremonial president and two deputy presidents. Those officials will name a prime minister and Cabinet, subject to the assembly's approval. The assembly also is to draft a permanent constitution and serve as a lawmaking body.
HOW LONG: The new government will remain in office for 11 months. If the draft constitution is approved by voters in a referendum, new national elections will take place in December.
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I was reading before the elections that the communists were going to get a big chunk of the votes but it didn't turn out that way.
ping
Under 50%. Good. That means they'll be sure to have to compromise, which will make the chances higher of having a strong, secular Constitution. Not saying it wouldn't have happened otherwise, but it helps the chances.
Interesting. Seems like they've got a good enough mix. Even thought the main Shia party did best, they didn't do well enough to move without the cooperation of others.
The Iraqi List (headed by interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi): 1,168,943 - about 14 percent - for 40 seats.
The word for today, boys and girls is C-O-A-L-I-T-I-O-N...