“Our dear people have been able to freely and safely cast their votes to choose their representatives,” Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said in a statement after polls closed. “I salute our heroic forces, government agencies, state institutions, the media, and all those involved in the success of the electoral process.”<\/div>\n
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However, four civilians were killed in an explosion on their way to vote in the Haweja area just west of Kirkuk on Saturday. A police official said the attack deliberately targeted civilians heading to the polling stations.<\/div>\n
As a result, security officials implemented a curfew from midnight to 6 a.m. Sunday in the province of Kirkuk.<\/div>\n
Shortly before the polls closed, State of Law Coalition, a rival party headed by former Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki, expressed concern that “some political forces have resorted to the use of various types of threats and intimidations, and threats to use weapons against polling stations and voters in order to influence their choices and vote for the candidates of some who already are realizing their early defeat.”<\/div>\n
Under the power-sharing system installed after the 2003 US-led invasion, the position of prime minister is reserved for a Shiite.<\/div>\n
Abadi, who’s been in power since 2014, is hoping to win back the top job. But the country’s Shiite bloc has splintered into five major coalitions, making it hard to predict which will come out on top.<\/div>\n
Whoever wins will still need to reach out to other blocs, including Sunni and Kurdish coalitions, to form a governing alliance.<\/div>\n
The next prime minister will then face the daunting task of stabilizing a nation scarred by ISIS’ rise and still plagued by sectarian division at a critical juncture in its history.<\/div>\n