Iranian Assembly of Experts election, 2006
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The fourth Iranian Assembly of Experts election was held on 15 December 2006. The Assembly of Experts is a Council of 86 '' mujtahids'' that elect the Supreme Leader, and oversee his actions. The members of the Assembly are elected every eight years directly by the people of Iran. The elections took place the same day as the City and Village Councils elections.


Candidates

The credentials of being a
Mujtahid ''Ijtihad'' ( ; ar, اجتهاد ', ; lit. physical or mental ''effort'') is an Islamic legal term referring to independent reasoning by an expert in Islamic law, or the thorough exertion of a jurist's mental faculty in finding a solution to a le ...
were approved for all candidates 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 ...
using written and oral (interview) examinations. Some members of the Guardian Council also ran for the Assembly of Experts. Although there were a few female ayatollahs ( Mujtahidehs) applying for candidacy, they could not pass the examination. The number of candidates which passed the examination was so low that the council had to lower the passing mark several times. There were initially 144 candidates for the 86 available seats.Aftab-e Iran
/ref> This was later increased, and according to Islamic Republic News Agency there were 181 qualified candidates. However, the number of candidates on the day of election was 165, and for the first time there were two non-cleric doctor of Islam candidate, although they were not elected.http://www.bbc.co.uk/persian/iran/story/2006/12/061218_mv-khobregan-final.shtm

/ref>


Results

The Interior ministers of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ministry of Interior reported an estimated 60% turnout of the 46.5 million eligible voters, reporting "more than 28 million people" as the number of voters who had voted. Different parties had several candidates in common, but '' Baztab News'' reported that the candidate list announced by the Combatant Clergy Association captured most of the seats (68 of 86 seats, while introducing 81 candidates). Reformists backed by
Mahdi Karroubi Mehdi Karroubi ( fa, مهدی کروبی, Mehdi Karrubi, born 26 September 1937) is an Iranian Shia cleric and reformist politician leading the National Trust Party. Following 2009–2010 Iranian election protests, Karroubi was put under house a ...
and conservative associates of Mesbah Yazdi failed to live up to their expectations. Of particular note was the victory of the pragmatist list led by
Ayatollah Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islam ...
, over hard-line candidates associated with President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad Mahmoud Ahmadinejad ( fa, محمود احمدی‌نژاد, Mahmūd Ahmadīnežād ), born Mahmoud Sabbaghian ( fa, محمود صباغیان, Mahmoud Sabbāghyān, 28 October 1956),
. Rafsanjani had lost out to Ahmadinejad in the runoff of the 2005 election for president. Yet Rafsanjani won nearly twice as many votes as President Ahmadinejad's mentor, hard-liner Ayatollah
Mohammad Taqi Mesbah Yazdi Ayatollah Taqi Mesbah ( fa, تقی مصباح‌; born Taqi Givechi, fa, تقی گیوه‌چی), commonly known as Mohammad-Taqi Mesbah-Yazdi ( fa, محمدتقی مصباح‌ یزدی, 31 January 1935 – 1 January 2021) was an Iranian Shi' ...
. Final results for the Assembly of Experts showed that more than 65 candidates close to Rafsanjani were elected. At 60 percent, voter turnout was much higher than in previous years. The Assembly convened on 19 February 2007 and Ali Meshkini was re-elected as chairman. The changes in the presiding board from the 3rd assembly were the replacement of Mohammad Yazdi with Ebrahim Amini, who retired, as the 2nd deputy chairman; and election of
Hassan Rohani Hassan Rouhani ( fa, حسن روحانی, Standard Persian pronunciation: ; born Hassan Fereydoun ( fa, حسن فریدون, links=no); 12 November 1948) is an Iranian politician who served as the seventh president of Iran from 2013 to 2021. ...
as a provisionist. After the disputed results of the June
2009 Iranian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Iran on 12 June 2009, with incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad running against three challengers. The next morning the Islamic Republic News Agency, Iran's news agency, announced that with two-thirds of the votes co ...
were certified by Supreme Leader
Ali Khamenei Sayyid Ali Hosseini Khamenei ( fa, سید علی حسینی خامنه‌ای, ; born 19 April 1939) is a Twelver Shia ''marja and the second and current Supreme Leader of Iran, in office since 1989. He was previously the third president o ...
, Chairman Rafsanjani was reported to have called a meeting of the Assembly of Experts, as the Assembly has the constitutional power to hire and fire the Supreme Leader. On 8 March 2011, Ayatollah Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani replaced
Ayatollah Rafsanjani Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani ( fa, اکبر هاشمی رفسنجانی, Akbar Hāshemī Rafsanjānī, born Akbar Hashemi Bahramani, 25 August 1934 – 8 January 2017) was an Iranian politician, writer, and one of the founding fathers of the Islam ...
as chairman. Mohammad-Reza Mahdavi Kani died in October 2014. On 10 March 2015 the Assembly voted in Ayatollah Mohammad Yazdi to be the next Chairman. The term begun in 2007 shall allegedly last ten years (rather than the regular eight) due to the "election aggregation" plan of the government, put in place to allow the government to run elections simultaneously for the Assembly of Experts and the Parliament, thereby economizing election administration costs.


See also

* Assembly of Experts * List of members in the Fourth Term of the Council of Experts


References


External links


Iran: Assembly Election Significant Despite Heavy VettingThe ‘Second Islamic Revolution’ in IranCandidates profile
- In Persian
Ayatollah Najmi weblog
- A candidate's weblog - In Persian {{Iranian elections 2006 elections in Iran Assembly of Experts election December 2006 events in Asia Assembly of Experts elections Iran