Populist Shia cleric Sayyid Moqtada Sadr on Tuesday eyed a broad coalition after a shock election triumph that has upended Iraqi politics.
Counting was still ongoing three days after the first parliamentary poll since the defeat of the hardline Wahhabi ISIS group, but the fiery Shia preacher’s grouping was in the lead with 16 of 18 provinces tallied.
Victory for the veteran nationalist’s Saeroon or Marching Towards Reform alliance with Iraq’s communists — pitched an anti-corruption outsider force — would be a slap in the face for Iraq’s widely reviled ruling establishment.
Tallies put the anti-establishment Conquest Alliance of pro-Iranian former paramilitary fighters who helped battle ISIS in second, and incumbent Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's bloc back in third.