Iraq vote: Al-Maliki allies ahead

Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, has strengthened his position as the country’s leader in Iraq voting.

The leaders of rival Shia parties acknowledged on Monday that al-Maliki’s State of Law coalition appeared to be heading for a strong win.

According to the reports, if confirmed, the results in the second major election since the 2003 fall of Saddam Hussein would overturn six years of provincial rule by mostly religious parties and give al-Maliki strong momentum in his bid to hold on to power in a general election due this year.

Nobody has expected that they would achieve this in Basra, in Nassiriya, in Samawa, in Kut. In this government, nobody had expected they could achieve such a result, an official said.

Hundreds of thousands of eligible voters out of the 15 million eligible to vote in 14 of the country’s 18 provinces were reported to have been left off ballot lists. Election officials have said they will investigate.