Al Anbar governorate election, 2009

Al Anbar Governorate election, 2009

2005 ← 31 January 2009 (2009-01-31) → 2013

All 29 seats for the Al-Anbar governorate council Turnout 40% (38%)   First party Second party   Leader Ahmed Abu Risha Saleh al-Mutlaq Party Iraq Awakening and Independents National Alliance Iraqi National Dialogue Front Last election 0 0 Seats before 0 0 Seats won 8 6 Seat change 8 6 Popular vote 56,262 53,487 Percentage 17.7% 16.9% Swing 17.7% 16.9%   Third party Fourth party   Leader Tariq al-Hashimi Jamal Al-Karboli Party Coalition of Intellectuals and Tribes Al-Hal Last election 29 0 Seats before 29 0 Seats won 6 3 Seat change 23 3 Popular vote 51,733 23,835 Percentage 16.3% 7.5% Swing 55% 7.5%

Governor of Al Anbar before election Maamoon Sami Rasheed al-Alwani Iraqi Islamic Party Subsequent Governor Qasim Al-Fahdawi Independent

Maamoon Sami Rasheed al-Alwani
Iraqi Islamic Party

Qasim Al-Fahdawi
Independent

The Al Anbar Governorate election of 2009 was held on 31 January 2009 alongside elections for all other governorates outside Iraqi Kurdistan and Kirkuk.

The governorate is overwhelmingly populated by Sunni Arabs. The sitting governorate council was elected in the Iraqi governorate elections, 2005. These elections took place at the same time as the Iraqi legislative election, January 2005 and were boycotted by nearly all Sunni Arab parties. The Iraqi Islamic Party was the only significant Sunni Arab party to put up candidates but they also withdrew from the ballot days before the election.

The turnout in Anbar was 2% for the legislative elections and only 0.5% for the governorate election. Therefore, although the Iraqi Islamic Party has traditionally been stronger in Mosul, they ended up with nearly all the seats on the governorate council.

From 2004, the governorate became a major site of the insurgency in Iraq directed against the Iraq government and occupying United States army. However, the formation in September 2006 of the Anbar Salvation Council was a turning point, and led to the American-backed tribal forces driving al-Qaeda in Iraq and other insurgents out of al-Anbar.

More than 520 candidates stood in Anbar, from 37 party lists. The main contest was between the Iraqi Islamic Party which ran the council since 2005 and various parties linked to the Awakening movements formed by tribal leaders and funded by the United States to fight against al-Qaeda in Iraq. Analysts predicted the IIP standing on their own would be "wiped out" in Anbar by the Awakening movements. the Iraqi Islamic Party formed the Coalition of Intellectuals and Tribes together with uniting the Islamic Party, the gathering of Anbar’s Tribal Leaders and Intellectuals, Iraq’s People’s Conference and the Independent Tribal National Gathering.

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