Electoral Results: Women's Representation in the Sixth Parliamentary Cycle
The November elections resulted in 84 women winning seats in the 329-member Council of
Representatives, representing 25.5% of the legislature. Critically, only 25 of these 84 women secured
their seats based on their own vote totals, while the remaining 59 entered parliament through the
quota allocation mechanism.12
Category
Number of Seats Percentage
Mechanism
Total women MPs
84
25.5%
Combined
Women elected by direct
25
7.6%
Competitive
vote
Women entering via quota
59
17.9%
Quota allocation
Constitutional quota
83
25.0%
Mandated
minimum
Table 1: Women's representation in the 2025 Iraqi Parliament
Comparison with Previous Elections
The 2025 results represent a significant decline in women's representation compared to the previous
parliamentary cycle (Table 2). In the October 2021 elections, women secured 96 seats (29% of the
chamber), with 53 winning through direct votes and 40 via the quota system.13 The 2025 parliament
now has 12 fewer women overall and 28 fewer women who won through competitive voting.
Election Year
Total Women MPs
Direct Vote Winners
Quota Recipients
2025
2021
2018
2014
2010
2005
84
96 (97 in some sources)
84
83
83
70
25
53 (57 in some sources)
Mixed
22
Data not available
Data not available
59
40
Mixed
61
Data not available
Data not available
Table 2: Historical trends in women's parliamentary representation in Iraq (2005-2025)
This decline is striking given that women represented a record 30% of all candidates, suggesting that
greater numerical presence did not translate into stronger electoral performance. The difficulty that
women faced winning seats through direct competition in 2025 compared to 2021 may reflect a
number of factors including changes to the electoral system, shifts in voter preferences, reduced
mobilization of women voters, party nomination strategies that marginalise women, and the
continued dominance of dominant male-led political blocs. 14
12
Kirkuk Now. (2025, November 21); Women Occupy 13 Fewer Seats in Iraqi parliament.
https://perma.cc/YS99-CLU2
13
Kirkuk Now. (2025, October 6). Women Make up 30% of Candidates for Iraqi Parliament.
https://perma.cc/4NZH-XTP2
14
The New Arab. (2025, December 11). Iraq's women MPs hold more seats but little sway.
https://perma.cc/YQ2A-TQKZ
17