ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iraq’s judiciary on Thursday called on winners of the recent parliamentary elections to quickly begin negotiations to form the country’s next legislature and government, stressing that the process must move within constitutional timelines. 

“We call on the winning political parties to expedite dialogues and understandings in order to form the new legislative (parliament) and executive (government) bodies within the constitutional time limits,” the Supreme Judicial Council said in a statement.

Iraq held general parliamentary elections on Tuesday, the sixth since the 2003 US-led invasion, with an unexpectedly high turnout rate of 56.11 percent. Nearly 7,750 candidates competed for the legislature’s 329 seats.

The judiciary further congratulated the winning candidates, parties, and winning alliances and wished them success. It warned that delays in forming the next government could destabilize the political system.

Upon the completion of the election cycle, Iraq’s Federal Supreme Court ratifies the results following the hearing and resolution of disputes. The caretaker president must then call on the parliament to convene within 15 days to elect a speaker and his two deputies via an absolute majority. Next, a two-thirds vote is required to elect the president, who, in turn, has another 15 days to select a prime minister-designate to form the government and present it to parliament within 30 days. 

In practice, however, the government formation process typically takes the better part of a year, with political wrangling forcing repeated postponements of the vote as parties and alliances attempt to extract the greatest concessions and most favorable terms. 

Under an informal 2005 agreement on power-sharing, the prime minister position is reserved for the Shiites, the president a Kurd, and the speaker of parliament a Sunni. 

Preliminary results released by the Independent High Electoral Commission (IHEC) on Wednesday show Prime Minister Mohammed Shia’ al-Sudani’s Reconstruction and Development Alliance as the victor of the vote. The premier said his coalition will serve all components of the country.

In the Kurdistan Region, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) led in both Erbil and Duhok provinces, while the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) topped the vote in Sulaimani. The PUK also scored first place in the disputed province of Kirkuk, despite the Kurds losing a seat from the 2021 vote.