A number of political and military analysts on Tuesday lashed out at the National Unity Government (NUG) for not yet introducing its choice of Minister of Defense (MoD) and head of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) to parliament.
This comes after President Ashraf Ghani said last week at a joint session of parliament that he would introduce nominees for the MoD and NDS soon.
TEHRAN, May. 01 (MNA) – In the runoff elections held Fri. to determine the makeup of Iran’s 10th parliament, 34 Reformists, 22 Principalists, 1 on both lists and 11 Independent candidates secured a seat in the 290-member assembly.
TEHRAN, Apr. 30 (MNA) – Parliamentary runoff elections have decided to lend a new hue on Baharestan, the seat of Iran’s Parliament or Islamic Consultative Assembly, effectively leaving out the majority of representatives of the 9th edition.
Unofficial results of the second round of parliamentary elections indicate that reformists are once more leading in most ridings. Four women, two independents and two reformists, in Shahreza, Borojen, Shabestar and Tabirz have won seats in parliament.
Elections Office announced that the counting has ended and the official announcement of the result will be done after the spuervisroy committees have approved the count.
The interior ministry has announced that the final results will be announced by 8 am local time.
Iranian media report that Massoumeh Aghapour, Samieh Mahmoudi, Zahra Sai and Khadijeh Rabii managed to win the most votes in their ridings on Friday April 29.
In the first round, 14 women won seats in Parliament, although the fate of Minoo Khaleghi, the candidate who won the third-highest number of votes in Isfahan, which has five candidates in Parliament, is still unclear.
Khaleghi’s votes have been voided by the Guardian Council, but the Ministry of the Interior and President Hassan Rohani have opposed the council’s act.
Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz candidate Khalid Khan Magsi clinched victory by a heavy margin against his nearest rival in Thursday’s by-polls for the Jhal Magsi constituency of NA-267, according to results.
According to the provincial election commission chairman Sultan Bayazid, PML-N candidate Khalid Khan Magsi secured 29,630 votes against the provincial chief organiser of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind’s 19,533 votes, according to the votes counted in 165 polling stations.
The by-election for the NA-267 Jhal-Magsi constituency of the National Assembly will be held on Thursday (today).
The main contest is between Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Balochistan Organiser Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind and Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) candidate Mir Khalid Magsi.
The Election Reform Commission (ERC) and election monitoring groups on Saturday slammed the National Unity Government for its continued reluctance to implement the reform process in the election law.
They said that no body or individual is allowed to justify continued obstructions in the way of the reform process.
Iranians vote in run-off parliamentary elections in which 68 seats are up for grabs in the 290-seat Majlis.
"People will vote for 68 undecided seats in constituencies that candidates failed to get 25 percent of votes cast in the first round of the election," said Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani-Fazli on Friday.
Polls opened at 8:00 local time (0430 GMT) on Friday and will close at 7.00 p.m., but voting can be extended depending on the turnout.
Iranian reformist MP Mohammadreza Tabesh has announced that the reformist and moderate MPs who won seats in the first round of elections are to meet for the first time since then.
The reformists had published a list of candidates they endorsed, referred to as the Omid List (Hope List). Most of these candidates, especially the ones in Tehran, won in their ridings.
Tabesh reported that the group will meet on Saturday April 30 and will begin discussing the establishment of the Hope Faction within Parliament.
After Gholamali Haddad Adel, the top conservative parliamentary candidate in Tehran, accused the administration of interfering in the election process, the interior ministry rejected the accusations and said no evidence has been provided to back such allegations.
In a meeting of the Conservative Coalition on Thursday April 29, Haddad Adel said there is evidence of the administration’s interference in the elections across the country, which according to him has become the pretext for further interference in the second round of elections.
Former Iranian president Mohammad Khatami is calling on Iranian voters to support the Rohani administration in the second round of parliamentary elections.
In a statement, Khatami highlights the sensitivity of the elections and urges even those who did not go to the polls in the first round to now vote in support of the moderate factions of the government.
The second round of elections will take place on Friday April 29 to determine the fate of 69 of the 290 seats in Parliament, which could have a pivotal effect on the makeup of the coming Parliament.
KUWAIT CITY, April 20, (Agencies): Kuwait ranked first in the GCC and 103rd internationally in the 2016 World Press Freedom Index released Wednesday by Reporters Without Borders — an advocacy group based in Paris. A total of 180 countries were ranked based on the following indicators: pluralism, media independence, environment and selfcensorship, legislative framework, transparency, infrastructure and abuses. These countries obtained scores ranging from 0 to 100, with 0 being the best possible score and 100 the worst.
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.
The arrests last year of two foreign film crews in Qatar has made journalists more apprehensive about investigating and reporting on the country, according to a media rights watchdog.
Reporters Without Borders knocked Qatar down two spots in its annual World Press Freedom Index, released yesterday. Qatar now sits in 117th place among 180 nations included in the ranking, behind Kuwait but still ahead of the other GCC countries.
Muscat: Youth and Human Resources Committee at the Majlis Al Shura reviewed the final report of its study on Omanising the managerial and supervisory jobs at the private sector. The report will be discussed by Majlis Al Shura at the upcoming regular sessions.
AMMAN — Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour on Tuesday described the 2016 constitutional amendments as “progressive”, aiming at enhancing the principle of separation of powers.
Responding to MPs’ notes on the new constitutional amendments during a Lower House session, Ensour added that banning persons with dual nationalities from holding a parliamentary or ministerial post is something “uncommon in fully fledged democracies”.
Even though it must await the approval of the HoR, the Presidency Council is starting the takeover of ministries.
UNSMIL’s return to Tripoli as of today presents a challenge to the organisation. Its original compound in Janzour, to the west of the capital is seen as too far away from Mitiga airport in the east.
