Inside the office of Hanane Al-Fatlaoui, candidate for Iraq's legislative elections in Hilla, Iraq, October 22, 2025. CHARLES THIEFAINE FOR LE MONDE
The campaign headquarters of Shiite MP Hanane al-Fatlaoui, set up in a villa in downtown Hilla, an hour south of Baghdad, remained busy right up until the start of the electoral silence, three days before Iraq's legislative elections on Tuesday, November 11. Tribal leaders and medical staff, supporters and acquaintances, all came to assure her of their vote and that of their families – and to express their grievances.
This 57-year-old dermatologist, who became an MP in 2004 and is praised by her supporters for her candor but criticized by a new generation seeking change for her lack of action, is running for a sixth term.
Once an ally of former Shiite prime minister Nouri al-Maliki (2006-2014), she has now joined her former protégé, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani. The PM, brought to power in 2022 by the Coordination Framework – a coalition of Shiite parties and militias – even though he had only two MPs in the parliament, teamed up with political heavyweights and tribal leaders to form an electoral coalition, the Coalition for Reconstruction and Development. He aims to make it the leading Shiite political force, having secured more than 50 MPs and thus winning a second term as prime minister, a post reserved for the Shiite majority in Iraq's power-sharing system.
