Sunday, February 23, 2020

Iran’s state TV: Hardliners win all seats for Tehran in vote

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian hardliners have won all 30 parliamentary seats in the capital, Tehran, state TV reported on Sunday, but officials have yet to announce the voter turnout from the nationwide elections two days ago.
State TV also said that former Tehran mayor Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, a top contender for the post of parliamentary speaker, was the top winner in the capital, with more that 1.2 million votes.
Voters had limited options on Friday’s ballot, as more than 7,000 potential candidates had been disqualified, most of them reformists and moderates. Among those disqualified were 90 sitting members of Iran’s 290-seat Parliament who had wanted to run for re-election.
Iran’s interior minister said on Sunday that 42.6 percent of eligible voters had turned out at the country’s parliamentary election.
Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli said the participation rate was “acceptable” for Iran after it experienced bad weather, an air disaster, a coronavirus outbreak and other incidents in the lead-up to Friday’s election.
The turnout is widely seen as a measure of how Iranians view the country’s embattled theocratic government. The low turnout could signal widespread dissatisfaction with Iran’s clerical rulers and the system they preside over. READ MORE