Iraq's New Legislature

Official election results released Jan. 20 show that, with 128 seats, the Shiite coalition will have the largest bloc in Iraq's new parliament. The 275-seat Council of Representatives, which will be part of a two-chamber National Assembly, will be Iraq's first permanent and freely elected legislature in decades.

230 seats were apportioned to Iraq's 18 provinces, or governorates. Seats, won by the percentage of votes received, are filled with candidates starting at the top of the party's list and descending through the ranks. None of the elected members represent a specific district.

Another 45 seats were distributed among individual candidates representing smaller slates that did not win any seats. This benefits smaller parties that have complained about being disenfranchised.

Council Seats, by Coalition

Council Seats, by Province

Roll over the provinces for a list of council seats by political party.

Council Seats, by Party

Party	Total Votes	Total Seats	Designation
United Iraqi Alliance	5,021,137	128	Shiite
Kurdistan Coalition	2,642,172	53	Kurdish
Iraqi Accordance Front	1,840,216	44	Sunni
National Iraqi List	977,325	25	Shiite/Sunni
Iraqi National Dialogue Front	499,963	11	Other
Islamic Union of Kurdistan*	157,688	5	Kurdish
Liberation and Reconciliation Bloc	129,847	3	Other
Message Carriers	145,028	2	Other
Mithal Alousi List for the Iraqi Nation	32,245	1	Other
Iraqi Turkoman Front	87,993	1	Other
Yezidi Movement for Progress and Reform	21,908	1	Other
Al Rafadeen List	4,7263	1	Other
Vote/Seat Totals	11,602,785	275

*The Islamic Union of Kurdistan is separate from the main Kurdish coalition.

SOURCES: Independent Electoral Commission of Iraq, Council of Foreign Relations, Radio Free Europe, staff reports, news services
GRAPHIC: By Dita Smith, Laris Karklis, Patterson Clark, The Washington Post; Alyson Hurt, Amanda Zamora, washingtonpost.com - January 26, 2006