Iraq’s Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is on course to keep himself in office for a third term, according to preliminary results from last month’s parliamentary election.<br /><br />They give him at least 93 seats, up from 70 last time and far more than his two main Shi’ite rivals – but not enough to gain an overall majority.<br /><br />The parliament is composed of 325 seats in all.<br /><br />With the largest share, al-Maliki is expected to seek alliances from other political groups to form a new coalition government.
