Rebuilding Iraq: Iraqis to go to the polls in May

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Iraqis will go to the polls in May to elect members of parliament who in turn will select the new Prime Minister. Whoever it is will face the daunting tasks of rebuilding Iraq after a three-year war with ISIL. There's also a battle against entrenched corruption that has allegedly been eating away at oil revenues and adding to the unrest. Jack Barton has this report from Baghdad.

Business is booming again in Baghdad where the security situation has been relatively stable this year in the wake of ISIL's defeat. The mood is more relaxed and upbeat than usual as Iraq heads towards a national election on May 12.

ALI RAAD SAMIR TECHNOLOGY ENGINEER "It is a good time to be a business in Iraq if we put the right people in the right place. I'm afraid to say all we have here in the government and leaders are a little confused, they can't choose the right way to begin with. So we have to pick the right leaders to do the right thing for our country to rise up again".

Sectarian tensions have eased, but there are other issues affecting stability.

JACK BARTON BAGHDAD "The issues that Iraq's really care about are the ones they believe are exacerbating their security situation and those are endemic corruption, a lack of services and high unemployment".

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is seeking re-election. Another top contender is former leader Nuri al-Maliki, who is close to Iran and has been criticised for anti-Sunni policies in the past that are alleged to have stirred up violence. The next leader will almost certainly be a Shiite, reflecting the majority of Iraqis, but could face a gridlocked parliament due to the country's quota system.

MOWAFFAK AL-RUBAIE IRAQI MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, STATE OF LAW PARTY "We have a very clear vision of what the next government should do, the next government has to be a political government majority, not a sectarian government, not a quota government, this number of seats for the Kurds, this number of seats for the Sunnis, this number of seats for the Shiites, this should stop."

What should also stop, according to many people we spoke to, is for the same people returning to the same political positions.

ABU ALI LAWYER "They don't want to work for the people, just for themselves."

There is fatigue here after 15 years of conflict, but also a window of opportunity for politicians to expand on the sense of unity and relative calm that Iraq is experiencing as Iraq attempts to rebuild. Jack Barton, CGTN, Baghdad.