Beleaguered Basra Hails Breadwinner Maliki

The mood is relaxed after the election results rather than particularly joyous. The anxiety of the past few weeks has subsided.



People are generally happy that Iraqi prime minister Nouri al-Maliki's Dawa party did so well here and that the incumbents have been booted out.



Maliki is best known here for ordering troops from Baghdad to crack down on Shia militia groups, particularly radical cleric Muqtada al-Sadr's Mehdi Army, last year. This earned him the nickname "The Breadwinner". He brought security to Basra, which helps people earn a living.



Talk to anyone here and they will tell you security was the most important election issue. Everyone is pleased that there is less violence.



Since the election results were released, there has been an encouraging omen – the foundation was laid over the weekend for a bridge across Shatt al-Arab, a key waterway near the city.



However, some people who voted for Maliki are now questioning whether they did the right thing. It seems they had expected Maliki himself to govern Basra, rather than his allies.



Now they wonder whether his allies and representatives here, who are teachers and university lecturers, will be able to handle provincial politics.



There are few supporters of the losing parties in the city of Basra. One of the big losers in the province was the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council, SIIC. However, most of its backing comes from the rural areas, so there is not much sign of its supporters.



Fadhila, a smaller Shia party, led the governorate with SIIC and will lose most of its seats.



One of the new deputies has called for the outgoing provincial council members to be held to account for misdeeds during their tenure.