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Weeks after Iraqis voted for their parliamentary representatives, election results are finally in. Former prime minister Iyad Allawi’s Iraqiya bloc won a slim plurality of 91 seats over incumbent PM Nouri Al Maliki’s State of Law Coalition which won 89 seats. Allawi lost Iraq’s last elections, being seen as too close to the US. But this time around he has enjoyed support from a largely Sunni population as well as secular Shiites. The Iraqiya bloc has faced accusations of bringing back Saddam Hussein’s Baathist tendencies into Iraqi politics. His rival Al Maliki on the other hand, faces accusations of being influenced by the Iranian regime and commands strong support among Iraq’s Shiite majority. While the English-speaking media has assumed a win for Allawi, it is as yet unclear which coalition will rule. Iraqi officials announced yesterday that up to six winners in the election could be stripped of their votes and seats as part of an on-going “de-Baathification” process. With at least three of these winners on Allawi’s slate, his two-vote edge over Al Maliki hangs in the balance. Regardless of which bloc ultimately commands the majority, Iraq is clearly deeply politically divided -a fact which could complicate the final withdrawal of US forces among other things.

GUEST: Robert Naiman, Policy Director Just Foreign Policy

Find out more at www.justforeignpolicy.org.