Iraq election results show Maliki in the lead

Despite winning more votes than any of his opponents, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki will have to reach out to other political parties to build a coalition, as election results revealed Monday that he has failed to win a clear majority.

Maliki is seeking a third term in office even as his administration grapples with rising violence fueled by sectarian tensions and by the conflict in neighboring Syria.

Maliki’s State of Law alliance won 92 out of 328 parliamentary seats in the April 30 polls – the first parliamentary elections since the U.S. military withdrawal in 2011 – Agence France-Presse news agency reported. The prime minister needed more than 100 to solidify his party’s position without having to compromise with his opponents.

Iraq’s Independent High Electoral Commission reported that Maliki himself received 721,000 personal votes, far more than any of the other candidates.

Despite his overwhelming lead, Maliki will now be forced to make deals and alliances with rival parties to prevent them from securing enough votes between them to build their own coalition, and to cement his position as prime minister.

His political opponents have criticized Maliki for his failure to maintain security in Baghdad and across Iraq. The ongoing battle with Al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Anbar province came to a head last week, as government forces bombarded the city of Fallujah in the culmination of a five-month battle for territory that has sent almost half a million civilians fleeing to other parts of the country.

Along with his ministers, Maliki’s Shia-led government is accused of being sectarian and corrupt, unable or unwilling to reconcile divisions with the country’s minority Sunni population. Many Sunnis say they are being unfairly targeted by Iraqi security forces, and their politicians say are being excluded from the political process.

Maliki, in response, has argued that Sunni-majority Saudi Arabia has been interfering in Iraq by allowing foreign fighters to cross its lands to take up arms against Iraqi security forces. And the fighting in Syria is threatening to spill over the borders into Iraq, further militarizing the population and making it even more difficult for the country to heal its wounds from years of sectarian fighting after Saddam Hussein was routed from power.