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Iran elections: early results show reformists and moderates lead race Iran elections: early results show reformists and moderates lead race
(about 2 hours later)
Reformists and moderate conservatives are leading in the race for parliament according to early election results, an indication president Hassan Rouhani may face a more friendly house to pursue his domestic agenda. Votes are being counted in Iran’s hard-fought elections with the first unofficial results showing gains for supporters of President Hassan Rouhani that could help promote greater opening to the west and limited advances at home.
Early returns on Saturday morning from Friday’s parliamentary polls show that none of the three competing political factions will win a majority alone in the 290-seat parliament but reformists seeking greater democratic changes are heading to win their strongest presence in parliament since 2004, at the expense of hard-liners. Friday’s polls for the parliament and the assembly of experts – its role is to choose the Islamic Republic’s clerical supreme leader – were extended for nearly six hours due to a turnout that was estimated to have been around 70% and which would likely favour the reformist-moderate camp.
Officials are yet to release early results but reports in the semiofficial Fars and Mehr news agencies and a count conducted by the Associated Press show that hard-liners are the main losers of the vote. Related: Iran elections: why are they important and who is running?
Friday’s election for Iran’s parliament and a powerful clerical body known as the assembly of experts was the first since Iran’s landmark nuclear deal with world powers last year. The interior ministry said it had counted 25% of the results by Saturday morning, though a final tally is unlikely to be known before Monday. The preliminary turnout figure was 6o%, it said.
Iranians voted in unexpectedly large numbers, with polling hours extended. Early returns show that none of the competing factions will win a majority in the 290-seat majlis, or parliament, but reformists and moderates are apparently on track to win their strongest presence since 2004 at the expense of conservative “principalists.” Broader support in parliament will strengthen Rouhani’s hand – though under Iran’s hybrid political system key decisions still rest with the supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The election was a key test of whether supporters of Hassan Rouhani, the president, can gain ground from conservatives and anti-western hardliners. Reports in the semiofficial Fars and Mehr news agencies and a count conducted by the Associated Press show that hard-liners are the main losers of the vote.
Experts say a high turnout – widely predicted to hit 70% – will favour the Rouhani camp. The president himself spoke of an “epic” turnout after casting his vote. The elections were the first since Iran’s landmark nuclear agreement last summer and the lifting of sanctions in mid-January. The short and carefully-controlled campaign – marked by the prior disqualification of hundreds of candidates – was dominated by the state of the economy, which has improved in recent months though few tangible gains have trickled down to ordinary people.
Full results are expected early next week. The election was seen as an important test for the popular Rouhani, who hopes to win a second presidential term next year.
Iran’s last parliamentary polls were boycotted by reformists in the wake of the 2009 presidential election, when the vote was rigged to allow President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to win a second term. The presumed winners of that contest, Green movement leaders Mir Hossein Moussavi and Mehdi Karroubi, remain under house arrest – a vivid example of Rouhani’s failure to make progress on sensitive domestic political issues.
The Fars and Tasnim news agencies, both affiliated to hardliners, began publishing “unofficial lists of winners” claiming that conservatives had scored some early wins. The Fars count listed around 30 MPs and more than 20 members of the 88-strong assembly of experts, mostly conservatives, as having won seats.
The precise shape of the next parliament will take time to emerge. Many candidates are unknown to the public and party lines and affiliations have become blurred, with some powerful conservative figures now backing Rouhani.
“Some of them are like watermelons,” quipped Saeed Leyaz, a reformist political commentator. “Until you open them up you don’t know what’s inside.”
The result in Tehran – where,including the surrounding province there are 36 majlis seats – will be closely watched. Nearly 5,000 candidates, including about 500 women, were competing.
Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report