Legislative elections for

Majlis of Iran The Islamic Consultative Assembly ( fa, مجلس شورای اسلامی, Majles-e Showrā-ye Eslāmī), also called the Iranian Parliament, the Iranian Majles (Arabicised spelling Majlis) or ICA, is the national legislative body of Iran. The P ...

were held on 14 March 2008, with a second round held on 25 April 2008. Conservatives loyal to President

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),

were considered the victors of the election, at least in part because "all the most prominent" reformist candidates were disqualified from running.

Qualification of candidates and campaign

A few months before the election on December 14, 2007, twenty-one moderate and reformist parties formed a coalition centered on

Mohammad Khatami Sayyid Mohammad Khatami ( fa, سید محمد خاتمی, ; born 14 October 1943) is an Iranian politician who served as the fifth president of Iran from 3 August 1997 to 3 August 2005. He also served as Iran's Minister of Culture from 1982 to ...

to increase their chances in the election. However, around 1,700 candidates were barred from running by the

Guardian Council The Guardian Council, (also called Council of Guardians or Constitutional Council, fa, شورای نگهبان, Shourā-ye Negahbān) is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence i ...

vetting body, the Supervisory and Executive Election Boards, on the grounds that they were not sufficiently loyal to the Iranian revolution. These included 90% of "independent and reformist candidates," 19 sitting MPs, and

Ayatollah Khomeini Ruhollah Khomeini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Imam Khomeini ( , ; ; 17 May 1900 – 3 June 1989) was an Iranian political and religious leader who served as the first supreme leader of Iran from 1979 until his death in 1989. He was the founder of ...

's grandson, Ali Eshraghi, who complained,

"What saddens me most is the method of discernment used y the Council of Guardians . . . They had asked my neighbors if I pray my daily prayers, or fast? Does my wife respect the
Hijab In modern usage, hijab ( ar, حجاب, translit=ḥijāb, ) generally refers to headcoverings worn by Muslim women. Many Muslims believe it is obligatory for every female Muslim who has reached the age of puberty to wear a head covering. While ...
? Do I shave? Or smoke cigarettes? What kind of car do I drive, and do I dress in a suit!"

Another candidate, Ayatollah Mousavi Tabrizi, protested his disqualification on the grounds of "lack of belief in law and in Islam," noting that he was not only an ayatollah and a member of the scientific board of the theological seminaries of Qom, but he had earlier qualified to run for the Assembly of Experts, the clerical body whose functions include selection of the supreme leader. With the elimination of reformists, the election has been described as a "contest between conservatives who still support" president Ahmadinejad, and conservatives who don't, or "hard-liners generally in sync with Ahmadinejad and ... `pragmatic conservatives,` ... unsympathetic" to him. Reformist leaders pushed for Iranians to vote in parliamentary elections, hoping to prevent a sweep by hard-liners allied with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Allies of hard-line President

seized the largest share of parliament seats, vote counting nearly completed everywhere in the country except for the capital,

Tehran Tehran (; fa, تهران ) is the largest city in Tehran Province and the capital of Iran. With a population of around 9 million in the city and around 16 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most popul ...

, on March 16, 2008. Conservative critics of Ahmadinejad won a substantial bloc in the legislature, highlighting the growing discontent with the president's fiery style and failure to repair the ailing

economy of Iran The economy of Iran is a mixed economy with a large state-owned sector and is the largest in the Middle East in terms of nominal GDP. It is the world's 21st largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). Some 60% of Iran's economy is centrally pla ...

. Reformists, who seek greater

democracy Democracy (From grc, δημοκρατία, dēmokratía, ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which the people have the authority to deliberate and decide legislation (" direct democracy"), or to choose gov ...

in Iran and closer ties with the West, showed strength in some cities where the clerical leadership allowed them to compete. Reformist leaders said March 16, 2008 that at least 14 winning independents are pro-reform, bringing their bloc to 45 seats so far. If correct, that would be around the size of the reformist presence in the outgoing parliament. Iran's leaders on March 16, 2008 declared the country's parliament elections, which were carried by conservatives, a victory that showed Iranians' defiance of the West. The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

and

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

called the vote unfair after most reformists were barred from running. The National Front boycotted the elections.

Results

;Inter-Parliamentary Union , - ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" , Orientiation of candidates ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats
(1st rd.) ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats
(2nd rd.) ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , Seats
(Total) ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" , % , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Conservatives Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 143 , style="text-align:right;" , 52 , style="text-align:right;" , 195 , style="text-align:right;" , 67.2% , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Reformists Reformism is a political doctrine advocating the reform of an existing system or institution instead of its abolition and replacement. Within the socialist movement, reformism is the view that gradual changes through existing institutions can e ...

, style="text-align:right;" , 31 , style="text-align:right;" , 20 , style="text-align:right;" , 51 , style="text-align:right;" , 17.9% , - , style="text-align:left;" , Independents , style="text-align:right;" , 29 , style="text-align:right;" , 10 , style="text-align:right;" , 39 , style="text-align:right;" , 13.4% , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Armenians Armenians ( hy, հայեր, ''hayer'' ) are an ethnic group native to the Armenian highlands of Western Asia. Armenians constitute the main population of Armenia and the ''de facto'' independent Artsakh. There is a wide-ranging diaspora ...

( reserved seat) , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , — , style="text-align:right;" , 2 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.6% , - , style="text-align:left;" , Assyrian and Chaldean ( reserved seat) , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , — , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.3% , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

( reserved seat) , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , — , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.3% , - , style="text-align:left;" ,

Zoroastrian Zoroastrianism is an Iranian religion and one of the world's oldest organized faiths, based on the teachings of the Iranian-speaking prophet Zoroaster. It has a dualistic cosmology of good and evil within the framework of a monotheistic on ...

( reserved seat) , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , — , style="text-align:right;" , 1 , style="text-align:right;" , 0.3% , - , style="text-align:left;background-color:#E9E9E9", Total (Turnout: 60%) , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 208 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 82 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 290 , style="text-align:right;background-color:#E9E9E9", 100% , - , colspan=5, Source
IPU
;Cainer (2008) ;Zimmt (2008) More than half of the reformist seats belongs to the main reformist coalition and the rest are affiliated with the NTP. ;Farhi (2008) According to Farideh Farhi, out of the 287 seats, approximately 170 can be identified as won by conservatives whose candidacy was supported by the two major conservative lists.

United Front of Principlists , national = Principlists , blank1_title = 2008 Member Alliances , blank1 = , blank2_title = 2012 Member Alliances , blank2 = , headquarters = Tehran, Iran , seats1_title = 8th Parliament , seats1 = , seats2_title = 9th Parliament , ...

won 117 seats and

Principlists Pervasive Coalition , founded = 2008 , split = Alliance of Builders of Islamic Iran , merged = United Front of Principlists ( Ghalibaf and Larijani faction) , successor = Resistance Front ( Rezaee faction) , ideology = Conservatism , position = Right-wing , ...

won 96, while 50 were endorsed by both. A portion of conservatives, "die-hard"

supporters secured about 40% of the seats. ;Katzman (2009) ;Sanandaji (2009) ;''Mardomsalari'' newspaper (2012) According to Democracy Party's organ, the conservatives won 199 seats while the reformists won 47 and 41 were independents. ;Zaccara (2014)

First round results

Some 4,500 candidates nationwide were running for parliament's 290 seats vote, in which an estimated 44 million Iranians of over 18 years of age were eligible to vote. With less than two-thirds of the 290 contests decided by March 15, conservatives had won 125 seats, reformers won 35 and independents won 10, according to news agency Fars. Another 39 winners were independents whose political leanings were not immediately known. Five other seats dedicated to Iran's

and

Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament, names and titles), was ...

ian minorities have been decided.

Voter turnout

Anoushiravan Ehteshami Anoushiravan "Anoush" Ehteshami ( fa, انوشیروان احتشامی) is the Professor and Joint Director of the ESRC Centre for the Advanced Study of the Arab World at Durham University. Ehteshami is the Nasser al-Mohammad al-Sabah Chair in ...

, citing the ministry of interior as the source, writes that number of eligible voters were 43,824,254 and 22,350,254 votes were cast. Voter turnout in the first round is disputed. Government officials claim that as many as 65% of Iran's 49 million eligible voters took part, a solid turnout but not reaching the around 80% that flooded the polls in elections in the late 1990s and early 2000s (decade). some conservative circles insisted that it was 73% or higher, "showing" popular support for the regime. "Yet the Ministry of the Interior's own figures indicated a national turnout of 52%, and no more than 30% in Tehran", roughly equivalent to 2004 turnout."International: Back to first principles; Iran's election." ''The Economist''. London: March 22, 2008. Vol. 386, Iss. 8572; pg. 70 From amongst the 49 million eligible voters above 18 years of age announced by the Iran Statistics Center some 23 million Iranians, i.e. 47 percent, participated in the parliamentary elections of March 2, 2008. This is the lowest level when compared with the eight previous parliamentary elections. Of this amount, 30 percent of the voters came from large cities and provincial capitals while in Tehran which is the political nerve center of the country whose residents demonstrate the most political behavior, the number stood at 27 percent. According to the government’s final figures, 650,000 citizens of Tehran have taken part in the second round of the elections for the Majlis (Iranian parliament), that is less than 8% of those eligible to vote.

Second round

82 seats in which no candidate gained more than 25% of the vote in the first round held another round of voting on 25 April 2008; 11 of those seats were in Tehran. Of the 164 candidates, 69 are considered to be Conservative, 41 Reformists and 54 as Independents. Turnout in the second round was only about 25%. Following the election, the 8th parliament opened on May 27, 2008.

Issues

Issues in the election have been described as "unemployment, inflation and fuel shortages" in a petroleum-exporting country, and increasing inequality. "The price of some basic foods has doubled within the past year and rents are soaring." Influential conservative clerics are also said to be irritated by president Ahmadinejad's "folksy and superstitious brand of ostentatious piety and his favouritism to men of military rather than clerical backgrounds."

References

External links

Iran Profile
election guide {{Iranian elections 2008 elections in Iran March 2008 events in Asia April 2008 events in Asia Islamic Consultative Assembly elections

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...