The Sunni Regions.

While initial reports suggest that Shi'ite religious parties in the Jan. 31 vote to more secular-leaning candidates, the big change will be the new regional authorities headed by emboldened Sunni politicians, which do not provide good coalition partners for the Maleki government. This might cause further fractioning, as the new bodies might resist further centralisation by a government still seen as a Shi'ite body and the product of a political process largely boycotted by the Sunnis.

The Kurdish factions are likely to seize on this and again attempt to stir opposition to Maleki's centralising agenda among regional bodies, as the 2008 security gains were seen as eroding somewhat the KRG's strong position in relation to the central government.

Looking for additional allies, the KRG and the Kurdish factions in the Iraqi parliament will probably attempt to cultivate any regional bodies close to a fall-out with the central government and position themselves as the leaders of a decentralising front within the country.

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