The Independent Election Commission of Iraq today certified the results of the middle-eastern country’s first free, multi-party democratic elections. The results will be used to allocate seats in the 275-member National Assembly.
A slim majority of 140 seats will go to the United Iraqi Alliance, a Shiite-dominated party with wide support in southern Iraq. A Kurdish party bloc will get 75 seats, and a secular party led by Prime Minister Iyad Allawi will get 40 seats.
Around 8.5 million voters participated in Iraq’s January 30 election—a 58 percent turnout rate in the face of terrorism and intimidation.
(Updated 9:20 with additional details.)