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Initial election results shows reformists' dramatic win in Tehran

Xinhua, February 28, 2016 Adjust font size:

Initial results of Iran's parliamentary polls released late Saturday indicated a significant gain of the reformist candidates in capital Tehran.

According to a statement from the Interior Ministry, out of about 1.3 million ballots counted in Tehran, the reformist coalition has secured 29 out of the 30 seats in the capital Tehran.

The statement said that the prominent reformist figure Mohammed Reza Aref leads the race for Majlis (the parliament) in Tehran. The only candidate of the principlists, or conservatives, among the 30 was the former chairman of the Majlis Gholam Ali Hadad Adel.

The statement did not explain the percentage of the counted votes in Tehran.

With Tehran results, it can be claimed that the reformist camp has regained ground it lost after 2004 in Iran's Majlis (parliament).

Earlier media reports from other regions in Iran where counting has been concluded said that, conservatives are leading the race with a narrow margin.

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.

Also, another statement carried by the Interior Ministry on Saturday spoke of the preliminary win for the reformist allies in Tehran in another key election, the Assembly of Experts.

The former pragmatic centrist Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani was on the top of the list bearing the names of 16 candidates eligible for Tehran seats in the assembly.

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 race.

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