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Iraq's major Dawa Party rethinks course after electoral fumble

Iraq's Islamic Dawa Party has been doing some soul-searching since losing the premiership for the first time in 14 years.
Baghdad, IRAQ:  Iraqi deputy Ali al-Adib (L), member of the Shiite Iraqi al-Dawa Party chats with  Sunni speaker Mahmud Mashhadani prior the start of the parliament session in Baghdad's heavily fortified green zone, 17 May 2006. Iraqi prime minister designate Nuri al-Maliki will present his cabinet line-up for parliamentary approval on Saturday, deputy parliamentary speaker Sheikh Khalid al-Attiya said today.       AFP PHOTO/POOL SABAH ARAR  (Photo credit should read SABAH ARAR/AFP/Getty Images)
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BAGHDAD — For the first time since 2005, the Islamic Dawa Party finds itself far removed from the head of Iraq’s federal government. The number of seats it holds in the new parliament dropped dramatically from those won in the previous elections in 2014, which saw a major split in the party.

Ibrahim al-Jafari, Dawa's former secretary-general, held the post of interim prime minister from 2005 until 2006, before his successor and the party’s current leader, Nouri al-Maliki, took the role from 2006 to 2014. In August 2014, Haider al-Abadi took over.

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