Early election results announced by some offices of the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) revealed a clear change in mood of Iraqi voters in choosing candidates to represent them. This is reflected most clearly in the large number of votes given to secular lists.

Preliminary results announced in some Southern provinces show high popularity for the State of Law coalition, led by Prime Minster, Nouri al-Maliki. In Karbala, initial count results from IHEC’s office in the province said they obtained as many as 58 percent of the seats there. The Iraqi National Alliance ranked second with 29 percent of the seats, followed by the Iraqi list with 13 percent.

Results in Najaf province were similar to those of Karbala. News released indicated that al-Malki’s coalition ranked first but no numbers were given. The National Alliance, in a step backward, ranked second, while Iyad Allawi’s list ranked third in all Shia provinces except in Babil, where his list came second, with the National Alliance third there.

Despite the difficulties faced by the Iraqi List ahead of the election campaign, with many of its candidates banned from taking part under investigations from the Accountability and Justice Commission, it is believed they came first in Sallahuddin, Anbar and Mosul. These results were only possible because of the dramatic decline in al-Tawafuq’s popularity in these areas.

The big surprise came in Kirkuk. Media reported The Iraqi list in front there but IHEC has not yet confirmed this information.

The Iraqi list competed with the State of Law coalition in Baghdad and in almost all ballot centers. Also competing were the National Coalition and the Iraq Unity Coalition, headed by the current Interior Minister, Jawad al-Boulani. No results have been released for Baghdad but political groups themselves have indicated they performed as expected, with gains coming mainly in their already established strongholds. However, most of the news released indicated that al-Malki’s coalition, which won half of the provincial council’s seats during the provincial elections early this year, has won more votes than others.

There has been no mention of other blocs, such as al-Ahrar, headed by Iyad Jamaluddin or the People’s Unity, led by the Communist Party in the preliminary results announced by the ballot centers. Results were focused on those who ranked first and second. Other blocs were being ignored until now as it seems that they have not achieved the results they have anticipated during their electoral campaign.

Kurdistan Region’s results showed that the Kurdistan Alliance, led by the two major Kurdish parties, ranked first with Goran, the Change Movement, led by Nashirwan Mustafa, ranked second. These results were anticipated before the elections given the strong popularity of the two parties compared to others.

The results have encouraged some politicians to announce that the new government will soon be formed despite the fact that all of them know that this is not possible if the Prime Minister’s bloc does not receive 50 +1 of the seats stipulated in the constitution, a percentage not easy to be reached without forming alliances with other entities.

Nonetheless, discussions have already begun behind close doors on the formation of the new government. Iyad Allawi, the head of the Iraqi bloc, said that there are no red lines and that he will join forces with any party that believes in the concept of state building based on national grounds and in the importance of ridding Iraq of the sectarian and political based quotas.

For his part, Ammar al-Hakeem, head of the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council (SIIC), realising the decline in his popularity and the rise of al-Maliki’s, started to approach other blocs’ leaders, such as Vice-President Tariq al-Hashimi, who allied himself with Allawi.

Kamal al-Saedi, a leading member of the Dawa Party, told Niqash:

“The new government should be formed based on a national perspective and professional and experienced people, who were excluded before because of the quota system, should take part in the political process.”

Results released show that turnout in Dahouk was higher than in other Iraqi provinces, reaching up to 80 percent of eligible voters. Missan province ranked last in turnout percentage. Only 50 percent of the eligible voters have participated in the balloting. The total turnout percentage all over Iraq has reached up to 62.42 percent.

Turnout was highest in the three provinces of the Kurdistan region. Many more voters voted in Salahuddin and Mosul, provinces with Sunni majorities, compared to other Iraqi provinces in central and southern parts of the country. In Baghdad, turnout was low and only Missan scored a lower turnout.

Regardless of the turnout numbers and the preliminary and final results to be announced by IHEC, these elections look like finally building a bridge over the sectarian divide in Iraqi politics and usher in a period of future change in the political process in the country.