A coalition led by Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki was winning in the all-important capital and a Shiite province in the south, according to a partial tally of election results released Saturday. If the Baghdad trend continues, the results would be a substantial boost to Maliki and his chances to retain the prime minister's post. Baghdad accounts for 70 of the parliament's 325 seats and would go a long way toward deciding who will be tasked with forming a government that will oversee the country as US forces go home. Maliki has been ahead so far in preliminary results that have been trickling out from election officials since last Sunday's vote. Election officials Saturday also announced that the prime minister's coalition was leading in Karbala where he has been battling his former political allies, the Iraqi National Alliance, a Shiite religious coalition with ties to Iran. With the partial Baghdad results and the Karbala tally, the prime minister is now ahead in five of nine provinces where early results have been released. The Iraqiya coalition led by Maliki's secular rival, Ayad Allawi, leads in two provinces, while Iraqi National Alliance is ahead in one. A Kurdish coalition, as expected, is ahead in Irbil in northern Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
