The initial results of the parliamentary elections this Saturday point to a big victory for conservatives in Iran, a more than expected result given the number of reformist candidates disqualified. Friday's elections were the first since protests sparked by the death of young Mahsa Amini in 2022; According to preliminary data, they had a participation of around 41% of the 61 million people called to the polls, the lowest in the history of the Islamic republic, which has always given great importance to the high number of votes as proof of its legitimacy and popular support .
Around 15,200 candidates – 1,713 of them women – are running for the 290 seats in Parliament. Of the first 129 seats counted, 99 were in the hands of conservative candidates and 17 were won by reformists, according to the official IRNA news agency, which cited data from the Ministry of the Interior. Another 13 seats will have to go through a second round, as the candidates did not obtain at least 20% of the votes in their constituency, which will be held later.
In addition to the dispute for Parliament, 144 clerics are running for 88 seats in the Assembly of Experts, the body that elects the supreme leader of the Islamic republic in the event of a vacancy. This body is elected every eight years and could play a decisive role in this term, given that Iran's supreme leader, Ali Khamenei, is already 84 years old.
The elections were dominated by conservatives after the disqualification of a large number of reformist candidates by the Guardian Council, a body that vetoes laws approved in Parliament and approves political candidates. The elections were also marked by calls for a boycott from politicians and activists, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Narges Mohammadi.
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