High-caliber surprises emerge after the announcement of the Iraqi elections' preliminary results

Shafaq News agency obtained data from the Electoral Commission showing that Muqtada al-Sadr's bloc won 73 parliamentary seats, followed by former Speaker of parliament Mohammed al-Halboosi's Takaddum Alliance with 41 seats, former Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's State of Law Coalition with 37 seats, and Masoud Barzani's Kurdistan's Democratic Party (K.D.P.) with 32 seats.

With a tally that some may see as unexpected, independent candidates won 20 parliamentary seats, beating political blocs that had had political and popular weight until recently, followed by the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (P.U.K.) with 17 seats despite its alliance with the Gorran Movement, whose candidates, in turn, were unable to win a single seat.

The Azm Alliance led by The Secretary-General of the Arab Project in Iraq Khamis al-Khanjar won 15 seats, followed by the al-Fatah Alliance led by Hadi al-Amiri with 14 seats, the Emtidad Movement that emerged from the October demonstrations -led by activist Alaa al-Rikabi- with nine seats, and the Jil Jadid Movement led by Kurdish businessman Shaswar Abdul Wahid with nine seats as well.

Furthermore, the Ishraqat Kanoon list won six seats in its first political and electoral participation, Rayan al-Kaldani's Babylon Movement winning four seats. For its part, the Alliance of National State Forces, which includes Ammar al-Hakim's National Wisdom Movement and former Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi's Victory Alliance, won five seats, three for the Wisdom Movement and two for the victory Alliance.

The Tasmeem list, also a new political entity, won three parliamentary seats, similar to the Kurdistan Islamic Union.

One seat was won by each of the Al-Adel Group (formerly Jemaah Islamiyah), the Islamic Virtue Party led by religious authority Mohammed al-Yaqubi, the Hoquq Movement led by former Hezbollah leader Hussein Mo'nis, and the Iktidar Watan Movement led by former Wisdom Movement leader and former Minister of Youth and Sports Abdul Hussein Abtan.

Surprisingly enough, during the recent elections, political leaders who occupied a large area of political, media, public space, and others that were expected to win, did not obtain a single seat to bring them back into the political process.

According to the preliminary results announced, Abdul Hussein Abtan, Adnan al-Zurfi, Haitham al-Jubouri, Salim al-Jubouri, Osama al-Nujaifi, Mohammed al-Karbouli, Mohammed Sahib al-Darraji, Alaa Al-Talabani, Baha al-Araji, Muzahim al-Tamimi, Khaled al-Obaidi, Katia' Najman al-Rikabi, Aras Habib, Khalaf Abdul Samad, Zafer al-Ani, Salman al-Jumaily, Salah al-Jubouri, Adnan Dirjal, Abdul Amir al-Tiyban, Sarah Iyad Allawi, and Insijam Al-Grawi did not win a single seat and are out of the political arena.