2013 Al Anbar governorate election

Subsequent Governor Ahmed Khalaf Dheyabi IIP | Governor of Al Anbar before election Qasim Al-Fahdawi Independent | Subsequent Governor Ahmed Khalaf Dheyabi IIP | | Governor of Al Anbar before election Qasim Al-Fahdawi Independent | Subsequent Governor Ahmed Khalaf Dheyabi IIP | |

The Al Anbar governorate election of 2013 was held on 20 June 2013 alongside elections for Nineveh.

Whilst elections for 13 of Iraq's 18 governorates were held on 20 April, elections in the governorates of Al Anbar and Nineveh were delayed due to security concerns arising from the ongoing insurgency and Sunni-led protests.

A total of 17 political parties and coalitions contested the election, fielding a total of 548 candidates. The top four most popular groups were;

Mutahidun is a major political force in Ninewa and Anbar, including in its ranks former finance minister Rafia al-Issawi's Future Gathering and tribal leader Ahmed Abu Risha's Awakening (Sahwa) Conference in addition to the Iraqi Islamic Party (IIP). The main leaders of the Mutahidun List were the two Nujaifi brothers; Usama and Atheel. The Nujaifis are not from Al Anbar, however, and so had formed these political alliances to garner more votes. In Anbar, tribal dynamics and locale trump politics and ideology, which, by contrast, are more prominent in Nineveh. The groups composing the Uniters List in Anbar had collectively won 14 seats in the 2009 elections.

Aabiroun looked likely to win seats in the run up to the election. Led by then incumbent governor Mohammed Qassim al-Fahdawi, the coalition was composed of nine groups and mostly relied on popular appeal deriving from Fahdawi's tenure as governor.

Deputy Prime Minister Saleh al-Mutlaq competed under the Arab Iraqiyya coalition, consisting of six groups. The al-Hal movement ran as part of the coalition in both Anbar and Ninawa. The two groups had won a total of 9 seats at the previous election, however in the run up to the election Mutlaq had suffered from a declining popularity in Anbar.

The Al Iraqia National and United Coalition is led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi and consists of 19 groups. The coalition won two seats in the 2009 elections. The elections will indicate Allawi’s political longevity among Iraqi Sunnis.

An IHEC spokesman announced the results on 27 June 2013, with the United List led by Iraqi parliamentary speaker Usama al-Nujayfi coming first, with 8 of the 30 seats. The Aabiroun Coalition; a bloc backed by Prime Minister Nour al-Maliki, came second with 5 seats.

Muhammad Mahdi al-Salih, the former Minister of Trade under Saddam Hussein, was rumoured to be a candidate supported by the Uniters List for the position of Governor of Anbar. The Uniters List later denied the rumours.

Ahmed Khalaf Dheyabi, a protest organizer from the Iraqi Islamic Party and a member of the Uniters List, was eventually chosen as the new Governor.