National Iraqi Alliance - December 2005 Parliamentary Election

December 2005 Parliamentary Election

The Iraqi National Congress left the alliance prior to the December 2005 elections, which also brought the Sadrist Movement more firmly into the Alliance. Al-Sistani also stated that he would not support any party in this election.

The election saw an increased turnout, mainly because the Sunni Arab population decided not to boycott. The alliance won 5.0 million votes (41.2%) an increase of 23% in the number of votes but a reduction of 6.9% in the vote share. They gained 128 seats, 12 fewer than the previous election.

Analysis of the seat allocation after the elections showed that the 109 district seats and 19 compensatory seats won by the UIA were split as follows:

Other parties include:

• Centrist Coalition Party
• Turkman Islamic Union of Iraq
• Justice and Equality Assembly
• Iraqi Democratic Movement
• Movement of Hizbullah in Iraq
• Turkmen Loyalty Movement
• Saed Al Shuhada Islamic Movement
• Al Shabak Democratic Gathering
• Malhan Al Mkoter
• Reform And Building Meeting
• The Justice Community
• Iraq Ahrar

Following the election, the Islamic Virtue Party withdrew from the Alliance, saying they wanted to "prevent blocs forming on a sectarian basis". This followed differences with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki over control of the Oil Ministry in the Government of Iraq from 2006. This was followed in September 2007 by the Sadrist Movement, who complained the Alliance was "dominated by some parties".

The Alliance formed a coalition with the Kurdistani Alliance, the Sunni Arab-majority Iraqi Accord Front and the secularist Iraqi National List. The Alliance nominated Jaafari for another term as Prime Minister, but his appointment was blocked by the Alliance's coalition partners. Nouri al-Maliki, a deputy leader of the Islamic Dawa Party was agreed instead.