Hundreds of supporters of Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr took to the streets of Baghdad Sunday night, celebrating the announcement of partial results of Iraq's parliamentary elections.
Iraq's electoral commission announced that al-Sadr is the current front-runner in national elections, with official results from just over half of the country's provinces.
Al-Sadr did not run for elections, but he holds sway over a coalition ticket that won by a large margin in the capital Baghdad.
An alliance of candidates with close ties to Iraq's powerful Shiite paramilitary groups came in a close second.
Al-Sadr's victory would be a significant blow to the re-election campaign of Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi.
If the results hold, al-Sadr, a strident critic of the United States, could have a major say in who is Iraq's next leader.
The electoral commission said that results of the election to fill the country's 329-seat parliament are expected within two days.