Maliki Gains in Iraq

The results from Saturday’s provincial elections in Iraq are coming in and Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is shaping up to be the big winner. In Baghdad, his candidates received 38 percent of the vote, followed by the allies of anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr and a Sunni Party, which each received 9 percent. In Basra, Iraq’s second biggest city, Maliki’s allies won 37 percent, followed by a Shiite party’s 11.6 percent. 14 of Iraq’s 18 provinces held elections on Saturday. The Associated Press calls the apparent results “a resounding endorsement” of Maliki, with voters “security over long-dominant religious parties in much of the country.”