"The Emtidad movement has reached an understanding with a number of nationalist independents and some new parties and we will head toward forming a parliamentary opposition in case we do not approve of the formation of the largest bloc," spokesperson Manar al-Obeidi said at a press conference.
"There are understandings and contact with many parties, we hope to form an effective bloc in parliament aiming at establishing justice and working on the projects set out by the Emtidad movement," he added.
The early election was held in response to October 2019 protests complaining of corruption and ineptitude among the ruling class and political system. Emtidad was formed out of the Tishreen (October) protest movement and considers itself representatives of the thousands of people who took to the streets in 2019 and brought down the government of former prime minister Adil Abdul-Mahdi.
The preliminary election results handed out unexpected wins and devastating blows. Emtidad won a total of 9 seats in Dhi Qar, Najaf, Babil, and al-Qadisiyah.
Several parties who have lost votes in the elections, especially those who are pro-Iran have rejected the results, alleged fraud, and threatened protests, pushing President Barham Salih and head of the Supreme Judicial Council Fayaq Zidan to issue a statement calling for calm.
"We ask the political powers to respect the will of the voters, and to take legal ways in filing complaints away from driving the country into anything that would hurt the interests of the Iraqi people," Obeidi said, adding they themselves have filed complaints regarding their votes.
Iraq's electoral commission said on Monday it received over a thousand complaints after it released updated preliminary results with the inclusion of votes that were manually counted.
