In the months prior to Iraq's Oct. 10 parliamentary elections, Muqtada Al-Sadr, his followers and politicians close to the Shiite cleric were talking about installing an explicit Sadrist as the country’s next prime minister. The significance of this is that previously the bloc had only brought up that it wanted a head of government that enjoys its support. However, despite Sadrist gains in the parliamentary polls, the ongoing dispute over the election results may thwart the bloc’s efforts to reach new heights on the Iraqi political stage.

An explicitly Sadrist PM

From the outset, it was clear that talk of a Sadrist prime minister was intended to mobilize Sadr's followers so that they would participate in the elections. This was a tough task as political apathy was the prevailing mood, as reflected by how most eligible Iraqis did not cast ballots on Oct. 10. Yet, Sadr succeeded in mobilizing his supporters, landing him at least 72 out of the 329 seats in the next Council of Representatives.

Sadr is now concerned about any changes that might be made to the finalized election results due to pressure from the Shiite Coordination Framework. He left the umbrella group in June, with the Coordination Framework now chiefly consisting of Shiite armed groups and parties which object to the vote results...