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Early results show reformists gain ground in Iran's parliament election

Xinhua, February 27, 2016 Adjust font size:

The reformist camp has regained ground it lost after 2004 in Iran's Majlis (parliament), According to the early results released by the Iranian media on Saturday.

By 2:30 p.m. local time (1100 GMT), reformists and conservatives are neck and neck in the regions where the count of votes has been concluded, the Iranian semi-official ISNA news agency reported.

The observers believed that the next Majlis will open further space for the reformists and moderates.

Currently, almost two-thirds of the Majlis representatives are from the principlists camp, and the rest encompasses independents and a small portion of reformists.

The count in major cities is advancing slowly since the work requires diligence, said Iranian Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli on Saturday.

The final results will hopefully come out in the following days, Rahmani Fazli said, adding that in some regions the candidates have not been able to win the required number of votes in the first round, so they have to run for another contest in the runoff voting.

According to the Iranian law, Majlis candidates shall win at least a quarter of the votes in the first round in each region so as to win a seat in the parliament. Otherwise, a second round of voting is needed.

The Iranian minister said that the second round of election for the Majlis will be held in the second half of April 2016.

Out of nearly 55 million eligible Iranians, more than 60 percent attended voting for two elections of Majlis and Assembly of Experts on Friday, he said.

Polling in Iran's first post-sanctions parliamentary elections concluded on Friday after five voting extensions due to high public turnout.

Out of 12,000 registered candidates, 6,229 are competing for 290 seats in the Majlis, or the Iranian Parliament. Iranians will also choose 88 members of the Assembly of Experts out of 166 qualified candidates.

The Assembly of Experts, a deliberative body of Islamic theologians, is elected every eight years and charged with electing and removing the Supreme Leader of the country and supervising his activities. Endit