The Council of Representatives is the de facto unicameral legislature of Iraq. According to the Constitution of Iraq, it is the lower house of the bicameral legislature of the country. The Federation Council is the unconvened de jure upper house.
As of 2020, the Council of Representatives comprises 329 seats and meets in Baghdad inside the Green Zone.
Parliamentary elections were held in Iraq on 30 January 2005 to elect the new National Assembly, alongside governorate elections and a parliamentary election in Kurdistan Region. The 275-member legislature had been created under the Transitional Law during the international occupation. The newly elected body was given a mandate to write a new constitution and exercise legislative functions until the new constitution came into effect. The elections also led to the formation of the Iraqi Transitional Government.
The United Iraqi Alliance, tacitly backed by Shia Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, emerged as the largest bloc with 48% of the vote and 140 out of the total 275 seats. The Democratic Patriotic Alliance of Kurdistan was in second place with 26%, whilst interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi's party, the Iraqi List, came third with 14%. In total, twelve parties received enough votes to win a seat in the assembly.