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Background Basics

Iranian Parliamentary Election Results

posted on 03/17/08

For information on how Iran’s electoral system is structured and earlier events in the election, click here.

Candidates
Conservative political leaders sought to limit opposition prior to parliamentary elections, disqualifying 2,200 reform candidates from contention, although 850 were subsequently reinstated. Disqualifications are often based on “lack of political coherence to Islam,” or other subjective political measures. This method of candidate censorship has been a trend under Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s reign in the past two decades, reflecting an effort to ensure his consolidation of power. As the elections approached, four factions have coalesced:
1) The United Fundamentalist Front (conservative) – supporters of President Ahmadenijad
2) The Inclusive Fundamentalist Coalition (conservative) – critical of the current government’s foreign and economic policies, and allied with former national security advisor Ali Larjani
3) Mosharekat (reformist) – supporters of former President Mohammad Khatami
4) The National Trust bloc (reformist) – led by former parliamentary speaker Mehdi Karroubi

Economic Issues
Despite President Ahmadinejad’s current prominence and popular support for his aggressive foreign policy, he is drawing criticism for the country’s poor economic performance. Even with increasing oil profits, problems like high inflation nearing 20%, unemployment and an absence of international investment have plagued the country, discrediting the President’s populist promises of the 2005 election. With reformist opposition marginalized, this election is seen as a referendum on Ahmedinejad’s performance, and a preview of next year’s presidential election.

Turnout
Hardliners characterized the election’s reportedly high turnout as a showing of defiance against the west, while others attributed the numbers to strong reformist support. According to the Interior Ministry around 60 percent of the population voted, although participation was lower in the capital, where most of the final votes have yet to be announced. Many of those that refrained from the voting cited complaints about high prices, unemployment and the poor state of the economy. Others observed that they saw little difference between the critics and supporters of President Ahmadinejad, some of the most outspoken of whom were on a list of his parliamentary supporters.

Election Results
Amidst claims by U.S. and EU that the elections were “cooked,” Iranian officials announced that conservatives had won a majority of the parliamentary seats up for grabs. According to Iranian state TV, with most of the votes counted, conservatives won 163 seats, reformists 40 and independents 47. Despite the disqualifications of many of their candidates, the reformists were enthusiastic about the prospects of increasing their seats in the parliament. Some of contests were going to run-off voting, and the official results have not been released yet. Although the conservatives as a whole took the elections, internal divisions remain with regards to the president’s foreign and economic policies. Mr. Larjani, winner of a seat in Qom, is considered a staunch critic, and likely will compete for parliamentary speaker. The new parliament, including these conservative and reformist critics, is expected to challenge President Ahmadinejad on these policies.