Abadi's rivals make big gains in polls

BAGHDAD, May 14 (Agencies): Shia rivals of Iraqi Prime Minister Haidar al-Abadi have made big gains in Saturday's parliamentary elections, partial results suggest.

With most votes counted, a bloc headed by cleric Moqtada al-Sadr and another led by a militia leader are ahead, voting officials are quoted as saying.

They suggest Mr Abadi's governing alliance is running third.

The election was the first since the government declared victory over so-called Islamic State (IS) last year.

The full official results were due to be announced later on Monday.

The race to become Iraq's next prime minister appeared wide open Monday as two outsider alliances looked to be in the lead after the first elections since the defeat of the Islamic State group.

According to partial official results obtained by AFP, the Marching Towards Reform alliance of Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr and his communist allies was ahead in six of Iraq's 18 provinces and second in four others.

The Conquest Alliance, made up of ex-fighters from mainly Iran-backed paramilitary units that battled the Islamic State group, was ahead in four provinces and second in eight others. After a vote Saturday that saw a record number of abstentions, the Victory Alliance of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who has been backed by the international community, looked to have won in only one province.

The complex electoral arithmetic of the Iraqi system means that the final makeup of the parliament is still far from decided.

Whatever the outcome, there looks set to be lengthy horse-trading between the main political forces before any new premier and government can be installed.

Abadi-who came to power as IS swept across Iraq in 2014 -- is a consensus figure who has balanced off the United States and Iran.

The other leading challengers have often taken a stronger stance against the United States.

Several senior political figures had previously told AFP that preliminary results put Abadi in the lead, on course to scoop 60 of the 329 parliamentary seats up for grabs.

The ballot Saturday saw a record low turnout, as only 44.5 per cent of eligible voters headed to the polls in the lowest participation rate since the 2003 US-led ouster of Saddam Hussein.

After the announcement that the Marching Towards Reform was ahead in Baghdad, supporters took the streets in the capital to celebrate a win.

Crowds of mainly young people waved flags and pictures of the populist nationalist cleric Sadr while fireworks fired off into the night sky.

Zeid al-Zamili, 33, described the vote as "a victory over the corrupt" and a "new chapter for the Iraqi people".