Campaigning begins in Iran's parliamentary run-off elections scheduled for April 29, seen as a test for the administration of President Hassan Rouhani and his critics.
The election campaigns began on Thursday and will end 24 hours before the start of the voting process, which is scheduled to be held on April 29 for the constituencies where candidates failed to obtain the required minimum 25 percent of votes cast.
As many as 136 individuals in 55 constituencies will compete to fill 68 remaining seats of the 290-seat Parliament (Majlis) in this round of the elections.
Head of the Iranian Interior Ministry’s Elections Headquarters Mohammad-Hossein Moqimi said on Thursday that the ministry is fully prepared to hold the vote.
“In this round of the elections, 15,350 polling stations have been planned in 21 provinces,” Moqimi said, adding that some 19 million ballot boxes have been prepared for the vote and sent to the provinces.
Iran held the 10th parliamentary and 5th Assembly of Experts elections on February 26 with an overall turnout of 62 percent nationwide.
At least 33 million out of the 55 million eligible voters took part in the two votes. As many as 4,844 candidates, including about 500 women, competed for a place in the Parliament, while a total of 159 candidates ran for the 88-member Assembly of Experts, which is constitutionally tasked with selecting a leader when the need arises.
Based on the final count of 3,246,991 votes, all the 30 parliamentary seats related to Tehran constituency were won by reformist and pro-government figures, with former Vice- President Mohammad-Reza Aref leading the list. The Principlist camp prevailed in other parts of the country.
Chairman of the Expediency Council and former President Akbar Hashemi-Rafsanjani ranked first in the Assembly of Experts elections in Tehran Province.
http://presstv.ir/Detail/2016/04/21/461815/Iran-parliament-elections-run...
