Iraq Risk management report: First provincial elections since US pull-out go relatively smoothly

Provincial elections – the first nationwide polls since the withdrawal of US troops – were held across Iraq on 20 April, and are seen as a test of Maliki’s strength ahead of parliamentary elections due in 2014. Votes in Al- Anbar and Nineveh were postponed on the grounds that protests there pose a security risk, despite international pressure to hold all votes simultaneously