Iraqi PM-led coalition tops Iraq election with 46 seats

BAGHDAD - Iraq confirmed final election results on Monday, showing Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s list came first with 46 seats in the 329-member parliament, the election commission said.

A new government could still be months away amid wrangling to build a majority.

Sudani seeks a second term in an exercise that a growing young electorate increasingly views as a vehicle for established parties to divide up the Middle East nation's oil wealth.

The next government will need to navigate the delicate balance between US and Iranian influence, and manage dozens of armed groups that are closer to Tehran and answerable more to their own leaders than to the state, all while facing growing pressure from Washington to dismantle those militias.