BAGHDAD: Iraq's premier said on Thursday he had enough support to keep his post, but with election results not due for weeks and parties bitterly divided, forming a government will probably take months.
Nuri al-Maliki, who is seeking a third term in office, will have to court disaffected parties within his own Shiite community, as well as vocal Sunnis and Kurds who angrily oppose his rule, but he expressed confidence following Wednesday's polling.
His remarks to journalists came as new figures showed April was among the bloodiest months since Iraq was embroiled in a brutal Sunni-Shiite sectarian war that left tens of thousands dead in 2006 and 2007.
The protracted surge in bloodshed, with more than 3,000 people killed already this year, is among the long list of complaints, along with rampant corruption, high unemployment, and what government critics say is insufficient improvement in public services.
Preliminary election results are not expected for at least two weeks. Initial election commission figures said around 60 per cent of 20 million eligible people had voted.
The turnout in 2010 was 62 per cent.
As was the case previously, forming a government is likely to take months, but Maliki said on Thursday that he had the votes to put together a coalition.
"We have confidence that we will achieve a political majority," he told reporters in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone.
"We have an ability to pass the 165 (seat threshold)" required to form a majority government.
However, he insisted he would not cling to the post: "My mother did not give birth to me as a minister or a prime minister. ... I am not interested in this subject (of being premier)."
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Iraq PM bullish on new government