In Iraq Election, Familiar Faces but New Coalitions

The coalition is the successor to the United Iraqi Alliance (U.I.A.), the Shiite coalition that dominated the 2005 election but fell apart soon after. It is now the main Shiite opposition to Prime Minister Nuri Kamal al-Maliki, and includes the powerful Islamic Supreme Council of Iraq (I.S.C.I.) and the political followers of the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, as well as smaller parties. Leading candidates will be a former prime minister, Ibrahim al-Jaafari, and one of Iraq’s two vice presidents, Adel Abdul Mahdi.

This coalition primarily grew out of the United Iraqi Alliance, which held 47 percent of the seats in Parliament in 2005.

Led by Prime Minister Maliki, and dominated by his party, Dawa, which broke off from the U.I.A. Largely Shiite, it also includes 40 smaller parties from across Iraq’s ethnic and religious spectrum. The group did well in last year's provincial elections by focusing on security and the establishment of effective local governments.

Mr. al-Maliki was one of the leaders of the United Iraqi Alliance, which held 47 percent of the seats in Parliament in 2005.

Secular alliance between Shiites and Sunnis, particularly in sprawling Anbar Province. Led by the interior minister, Jawad al-Bolani, a Shiite, and Anbar’s most prominent tribal leader, Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha. Many of its candidates were disqualified because of pasts or sympathies with Saddam Hussein’s Baath Party. The coalition’s members considered joining other larger coalitions, but could not agree on terms.

Some of the leaders from this group were part of the Iraqi Consensus Front, which held 16 percent of the seats in Parliament in 2005.

A largely secular Sunni and Shiite coalition that has emerged as a potent challenger to the Shiite-led blocs. Led by a former prime minister, Ayad Allawi, a Shiite, and the country’s other vice president, Tariq al-Hashimi, a Sunni. Two of its other leaders, Saleh al-Mutlaq and Dhafir al-Ani, both members of Parliament, were disqualified from running because of alleged sympathies with the Baath Party.

Members of this group came from two coalitions, the Iraqi List and the Iraqi Consensus Front, which together held a quarter of the seats in Parliament in 2005.

Also known as Tawafiq, it is made up almost entirely of the Iraqi Islamic Party, whose fortunes have waned in recent years. Many of the more secular Sunni leaders joined other alliances, like Vice President Tariq al-Hashimi, who jumped to Iraqiya. Its most prominent candidate is the speaker of the current Parliament, Ayad al-Samarrai.

This coalition is a remnant of the Iraqi Accord Front, which held 16 percent of the seats in Parliament in 2005, after many of its members joined other coalitions.

The two dominant Kurdish parties, the Kurdistan Democratic Party (K.D.P.) and the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (P.U.K.), have formed a formidable alliance, but face an opposition movement called Gorran, or Change. Expected to form a unified Kurdish bloc in Parliament — in keeping with the old Kurdish saying, "We have no friends but the mountains" — and could be a swing vote in determining the next prime minister.

This group has most of the same players as the Kurdistan Alliance, which held 19 percent of the seats in Parliament in 2005.

A new reform group opposed to corruption within Kurdish politics, it is expected to win about 5 percent of the vote. Election experts expect it to join the Kurdistan Alliance after the elections.