Iraq's parliamentary elections last month shuffled the key players, with the movement of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr taking nearly a fifth of seats, according to results released Tuesday.

But without an absolute majority in the fragmented 329-seat legislature, parties will have to form alliances.

Here is an overview of some of the most important figures.

- Sadrist movement -

Led by firebrand Sadr, the movement won 73 seats in parliament, expanding its haul from 54 in the outgoing parliament.

Sadr is the scion of an influential clerical family. He raised a rebellion after the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq, and has now reinvented himself as a reform champion.

A self-styled defender against all forms of corruption, Sadr has distinguished himself from other top Shiite figures by seeking distance from both Iranian and US influence.

- Pro-Iran factions -

The Fatah (Conquest) Alliance parliamentary grouping, the political arm of the Shiite Hashed al-Shaabi former paramilitary force, saw its representation plummet from 48 to 17 seats.

The alliance had made its debut in parliament following the last election in 2018, shortly after the Hashed helped defeat the Islamic State group.

The alliance's leader Hadi al-Ameri also heads the Badr organisation, one of the Hashed factions.

Hashed leaders had earlier rejected the preliminary results as a "scam", and their supporters held street protests chanting "No to fraud".

The alliance has consistently called for the expulsion of US troops from Iraq.

Another pro-Iran faction is the State of Law Alliance, an offshoot of the Daawa Party, both led by Nuri al-Maliki, who was prime minister from 2006 to 2014.

A surprise outcome for this Hashed partner saw it strengthen its political base from 24 to 33 seats.

- Independents -

The all-new Alliance of State Forces brings together the groups of former prime minister Haider al-Abadi, who led the fight against IS, and Ammar al-Hakim, who leads the moderates in the Shiite camp.

With a meagre four seats, they have lost their clout, after having earned 42 and 19 seats respectively in the previous polls.

In addition, 43 candidates unaffiliated to political parties have been elected as "independents".

However, experts believe some may end up being co-opted by the major parties.

- Sunni groups -

The Taqaddum (Progress) movement, led by speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halbussi, won 37 seats in parliament.

That makes it the second-largest force in the chamber.

He was elected speaker with the support of the pro-Iran blocs, but has cultivated relations with regional powers including the United Arab Emirates.

Taqaddum's main Sunni competitor is the Azm (Determination) movement of controversial politician Khamis al-Khanjar, who has been sanctioned by Washington amid accusations of corruption. Azm won 14 seats.

- Anti-establishment players -

Imtidad, a newly created party representing the protest movement that began in 2019, took nine seats.

The party presents itself as "a non-sectarian, anti-nationalist, anti-racist political movement, which seeks to build a civilian state".

It is popular in the city of Nasiriyah, the epicentre of the demonstrations in the poor Shiite south.

- The Kurds -

Autonomous Kurdistan, in northern Iraq, has long been dominated by two parties.

The Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) of the Barzani clan, won 31 seats.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) of the Talabani clan took 17, under the Coalition of Kurdistan banner.

Kurdish opposition party New Generation jumped from four to nine seats.

Moqtada Sadr: Iraq's political, religious force
Baghdad (AFP) Nov 30, 2021 - When he raises his index finger and frowns, Iraq holds its breath: the mercurial Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr has yet again emerged as kingmaker following last month's parliamentary polls.

Today, as in past years following the overthrow of dictator Saddam Hussein, Iraq cannot ignore the grey-bearded preacher who once led a militia against American and Iraqi government forces.

Now he wants his Sadrist movement to lead the formation of the next government.

Final results in the October 10 parliamentary vote announced by the electoral commission gave the movement the largest bloc, 73 of parliament's 329 seats -- up from the 54 it held before.

The results were announced over seven weeks after the polls, following fierce contestation by rival Shiite blocs, some of which alleged fraud in the ballots.

The composition of the next government, and who will be prime minister, will depend on the outcome of negotiations between Sadr and his opponents.

One of them is Nuri al-Maliki, a pro-Iran figure who gained the premiership in 2006 with support from Sadr.

But the following year the cleric, who wears a black turban symbolic of a descendant of the Prophet Mohammed, ordered his followers to pull out of Maliki's cabinet, almost bringing down the government.

It was just one of several reversals the chameleon-like figure has made over the years, including in 2008 when he suspended activities of his Mahdi Army, which had been one of Iraq's most active and feared Shiite militias.

Now he denounces the arms held by his adversaries, pro-Iran Shiite parties linked to the Hashed al-Shaabi network of former paramilitary forces, with whom he must negotiate on forming a government.

"Civil peace will not be destabilised," he tweeted days after the vote, responding to calls on social media for violence, after the Hashed lost seats in the election.

Sadr also said "arms should be in the hands of the state, and their use outside of that framework prohibited", in a clear reference to the Hashed.

On November 18, he addressed "political forces who consider themselves the losers of these elections", and said their defeat "should not open a path to the ruin of Iraq's democratic process".

- An 'obedient base' -

Sadr retains a devoted following of millions among the country's majority Shiite population, including in the poor Baghdad district of Sadr City.

"He can occupy the streets. No one in Iraq can do it as well as him," said Hamdi Malik, of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Perhaps uniquely in Iraq, Sadr has "a very obedient base" which also comprises a formidable online presence attacking his rivals in cyberspace, Malik said.

"Everything is revolving around him. That in Iraq is very important," he added.

During youth-led protests that erupted two years ago, Sadr sent thousands of followers to support the movement.

He then called them back, and later invited them to "relaunch the peaceful reformist revolution".

Hundreds of activists died in the protests. The movement has blamed pro-Iranian armed groups for the bloodshed.

Sadr initially said he would not take part in the parliamentary election but then reversed course, saying his movement would participate in order to help "end corruption".

"He might look a little bit crazy because of what he does," said Malik, but for his supporters "this craziness of withdrawing from the elections, coming back to the elections, threatening people, it's a sign of strength, charisma for many people".

Ben Robin-D'Cruz, a specialist in Shiite movements at Aarhus University in Denmark, said Sadr "tries to position himself simultaneously in the centre of the political system while distancing himself from it".

His religious character, the researcher added, "allows him to create this illusion of transcending politics".

- Checkered ties with Iran -

Born in 1974 in Kufa, near the holy Shiite city of Najaf, Sadr is described by some who are close to him as easily angered.

He comes from an influential clerical family and left Iraq at the end of 2006 or the beginning of 2007, according to US and Iraqi officials, reportedly to pursue religious studies in the Iranian holy city of Qom.

But he has a checkered relationship with Iraq's neighbour.

Sadr's bloc contested the 2010 legislative election in an alliance with the Supreme Iraqi Islamic Council, another Shiite group with links to Iran.

This time, though, he campaigned as a nationalist and criticised the influence of the Islamic republic.

Sadr wants an accommodation with Iran that would allow him to compete against its allies politically without the constraints currently imposed by the "greater coercive power" of the armed pro-Iran factions, Robin-D'Cruz said.

"But the Iranians have been reluctant to do that, because they don't want to empower Sadr and they don't consider him reliable," the analyst said.

Related Links
Democracy in the 21st century at TerraDaily.com

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