Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced that it has overturned the disqualification of a candidate, called Saddam Hussein al-Naimi, from the parliamentary election that was held this week.
It said the disqualification had no legal justification.
Al-Naimi, who ran on the list of the Sunni al-Azm alliance in the Kirkuk province, was one of 800 candidates excluded from the race.
Al-Naimi shares the name of toppled late longtime ruler Saddam Hussein, but is not related to him. His nomination had sparked widespread debate in political circles and on social media.
After his disqualification was overturned, al-Naimi was allowed to run in the election, ultimately winning a seat in Kirkuk after garnering 12,693 votes, the highest for a Azm candidate in the province.
Incumbent Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani came first in the parliamentary election, the Commission said on Wednesday. His coalition received 1.317 million votes in Tuesday's election.
Nine of his ministers also won seats in the legislature.
In Baghdad, 17 MPs out of 71 retained their seats, including Sudani and minister Ahmed al-Asadi and Hiyam Al-Yasiri.
In the southern Basra province, 11 MPs out of 25 were reelected. In the southeastern Dhi Qar province, five out of 19 MPs retained their seats.
In the Al-Muthanna province, only one MP retained his seat. The same scenario played out in the al-Najaf province. In Karbala southwest of Baghdad, four MPs were reelected.
In the Babel province south of Baghdad, five MPs out 17 were reelected, two were reelected in the eastern Waset province, and in al-Anbar, the country’s largest, four won a second term in office.
Following the election, the complex and often lengthy task of choosing the country's next leader is set to begin.
Sudani claimed victory for his coalition, though it still falls short of the majority needed to form a government.
He now faces the tough quest of securing support from other parties, mostly from the Shiite majority, in his bid for a second term.
With no single bloc dominating the next parliament, key parties could spend weeks or even months negotiating alliances to build the largest bloc and nominate the next premier.
