(Adnkronos) – Italy praised Iraq for the parliamentary polls held across the country on Wednesday – in which Iraqi premier Mohammed Shia al-Sudani’s coalition emerged as the winner – stating that it wants to boost economic and regional security cooperation.
“Congrats to Iraq’s authorities and people for the democratic participation in the legislative elections,” the foreign ministry wrote on X.
“We are ready to strengthen economic cooperation through Italy’s companies,” the post continued.
“We’ll continue to consolidate bilateral partnership and promote security in the region,” the post underlined.
No single party in Iraq’s 329-member legislature can form a government, leading to fraught alliance-building between political forces that often takes many months.
Jobs, education and healthcare are seen as the main challenges for Iraq’s next government amid widespread graft, mismanagement.
Voter turnout was 56% in Wednesday’s national election – up sharply from 41% in 2021, which observers say belies widespread disillusionment and scepticism towards Iraq’s established parties.
