by AP and Israel Hayom Staff
Reformist camp secures 143 seats in Tehran's assembly, just shy of half the house • Hard-liners win 86 seats and independents win 61 • "Our priority is engagement with other factions rather than confrontation," moderates' leader Mohammad Reza Aref says.
Head of the reformists'
coalition list for the Iranian parliamentary elections Mohammad Reza
Aref
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Photo credit: Reuters  |
Iranian moderates and reformists who support
last year's landmark nuclear deal with six world powers have won the
largest number of seats in parliament following runoff elections,
marking a shift away from hard-liners and boosting President Hassan
Rouhani as he looks to secure a second term in office next year.
The results, released Saturday on state
television, failed to give the moderate-reformist camp an outright
majority in the 290-seat chamber, however. They will now likely try to
attract support from dozens of independent lawmakers whose political
leanings vary depending on the issue at hand.
There were 68 seats being contested in runoff
elections held Friday in 55 constituencies around the country. Residents
in the capital, Tehran, did not take part in the second-round balloting
because moderates won all 30 seats there outright in first-round voting
in February.
The reformist and moderate list claimed 37
seats in Friday's vote, giving them a total of 143 seats in the assembly
-- just two seats shy of 50%. They are followed by hard-liners, with 86
seats, and independents, with 61. Twenty-two hard-liners and nine
independents won seats in the runoff.
Mohammad Reza Aref, head of the
moderate-reformist bloc, welcomed the victory, saying "our priority is
engagement with other factions rather than confrontation," the
semiofficial Iranian Students News Agency reported.
Tehran-based political analyst Saeed Leilaz called the results a "decisive victory" for the moderate-reformist bloc.
"It is now clear that they are more popular
than hard-liners, even in the remote areas," where their support was
seen as lower than in major cities, Leilaz said.
A total of 17 women won seats in both rounds of elections, the largest number ever. At least 11 of them are moderate-reformist.
Deputy Interior Minister Hossein Ali Amiri
told state TV that turnout in the runoff elections was 59%, compared
with 62% in the original February elections. Some 17 million Iranians
were eligible to vote.
Iran does not allow international election observers to monitor its polls, which are organized by the Interior Ministry.
Friday's vote was marred by rare violence in
the southern town of Mamasani, home to several armed tribes. Four people
were wounded in a shooting that followed an argument between supporters
of rival candidates running there.
Rouhani could enjoy a boost in popularity
heading into next year's presidential elections if the new parliament is
seen as delivering on his priorities. The outgoing parliament,
dominated by conservatives and hard-liners wary of Rouhani's outreach to
the West, showed little desire to work with him and frequently summoned
ministers to explain alleged transgressions after Rouhani came to power
in 2013.
His supporters' failure to achieve an outright
majority could complicate the moderate-reformist bloc's efforts to name
a parliament speaker. The speaker plays a significant role in getting
bills passed or rejected and also serves on several important
decision-making bodies, including the Supreme National Security Council.
Leilaz, the political analyst, predicted that many independents will nonetheless support Rouhani's administration in practice.
"Rouhani has gained a momentum to remove many barriers and this will help to secure his second term," he said.
The structure of Iran's political system
limits how much lawmakers will be able to accomplish even if the
moderate-reformist camp manages to attract enough independents to vote
with it. Major dramatic shifts in Iranian domestic or foreign policy are
unlikely.
While parliament has some oversight over
public spending and the power to question government ministers,
legislation it passes is subject to review by the Guardian Council, a
constitutional watchdog. Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei,
remains the top decision-maker in the country, and would have to support
any major policy changes.
The assembly will convene next month after the
Guardian Council confirms the results. The council vets candidates --
deeming many unfit to run -- and supervises elections.
It has already ratified results of 221 out of 222
winners of the first round, though the political fate of female
reformist candidate Minoo Khaleghi, in the central Iranian city of
Isfahan, remains uncertain. The Interior Ministry has said it is
discussing her case with the council.
AP and Israel Hayom Staff
Source: http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=33403
Copyright - Original materials copyright (c) by the authors.
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