Provincial Councils

Provincial Councils

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki leads the Dawa party which is running for seats on Iraq's provincial councils.


Iraq is divided into 18 provinces led by governing bodiescalled provincial councils that oversee the budget and infrastructure projects. In Saturday’s elections, more than 14,000 candidates ran for only 440 empty seats on the councils.
Although about 400 different parties make up the councils, three parties have thus far dominated the political landscape based around traditional religious and ethnic divisions. The majority Shiite sect is represented by Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s Dawa party and the more religious Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council. The Iraqi Islamic Party represents the minority Sunni group.