Iraq’s dismal election prompts militias to threaten violence

ELECTIONS ARE supposed to be a smooth way to change power. In Iraq they seem to heighten hostilities. The vote on October 10th split the Shia majority between two snarling blocs. Muqtada al-Sadr, a gruff cleric-cum-militiaman popular with working-class Shias, emerged as the front-runner, with more than 70 of parliament’s 329 seats, a third more than his tally in the previous election, in 2018. His nearest Shia rival, Nuri al-Maliki, won about half as many. But within hours Mr Maliki, a besuited former prime minister, had assembled a coalition of Shia factions and militias friendly with Iran, topping Mr Sadr’s tally. Both men are claiming to have a mandate to form the next government.