 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||||||||
All 290 seats to the Islamic Consultative Assembly 146 seats needed for a majority | |||||||||||||||||||
| Registered | 46,351,032 [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| Turnout | 51.21% [1] | ||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
The Iranian parliamentary elections of February 20 and May 7, 2004 were a victory for Islamic conservatives over the reformist parties. Assisting the conservative victory was the disqualification of about 2500 reformist candidates earlier in January.
The first round of the 2004 elections to the Iranian Parliament were held on February 20, 2004. Most of the 290 seats were decided at that time but a runoff was held 2½ months later on May 7, 2004, for the remaining thirty-nine seats where no candidate gained sufficient votes in the first round. In the Tehran area, the runoff elections were postponed to be held with the Iranian presidential election of June 17, 2005.
Tehran is the capital of Iran and Tehran Province. With a population of around 8.694 million in the city and 15 million in the larger metropolitan area of Greater Tehran, Tehran is the most populous city in Iran and Western Asia, and has the second-largest metropolitan area in the Middle East. It is ranked 24th in the world by the population of its metropolitan area.
The elections took place amidst a serious political crisis following the January 2004 decision to ban about 2500 candidates — nearly half of the total — including 80 sitting Parliament deputies. This decision, by the conservative Council of Guardians vetting body, "shattered any pretense of Iranian democracy", according to some observers. [2]
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy promoting traditional social institutions in the context of culture and civilization. The central tenets of conservatism include tradition, human imperfection, hierarchy, authority, and property rights. Conservatives seek to preserve a range of institutions such as monarchy, religion, parliamentary government, and property rights, with the aim of emphasizing social stability and continuity. The more extreme elements—reactionaries—oppose modernism and seek a return to "the way things were".
The victims of the ban were reformists, particularly members of the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF), and included several leaders. Prominent banned candidates included Ebrahim Asgharzadeh, Mohsen Mirdamadi, Mohammad-Reza Khatami and Jamileh Kadivar. [3] In many parts of Iran, there weren't even enough independent candidates approved, so the reformists couldn't form an alliance with them. Out of a possible 285 seats (5 seats are reserved for religious minorities: Christians, Jews, and Zoroastrians), the participating reformist parties could only introduce 191 candidates. Many pro-reform social and political figures, including Shirin Ebadi, asked people not to vote (although some reformist party leaders, such as those in the IIPF, specifically mentioned they would not be boycotting the elections). Some moderate reformists, however, including President Mohammad Khatami, urged citizens to vote in order to deny the conservative candidates an easy majority.
The Islamic Iran Participation Front is a reformist political party in Iran. It is sometimes described as the most dominant member within the 2nd of Khordad Front.
Ebrahim Asgharzadeh is an Iranian political activist and politician. He served as a member of the 3rd Majlis from 1988–1992 and as a member of the first City Council of Tehran from 1999–2003. His career in politics started as one of the leaders of the group Muslim student followers of the Imam's line that took over the American embassy and held American embassy staff hostage for 444 days.
Mohsen Mirdamadi is an Iranian politician. He was an organizer of the 1979 Iran hostage crisis, a member of the parliament of Iran from 2000 until 2004, and the Secretary-General of "the largest pro-reform party" in Iran, Islamic Iran Participation Front since 11 August 2006.
Conservative political groups included the Militant Clergy Association and the Islamic Coalition Society. Liberal–reformist groups included the Militant Clerics Society, Islamic Iran Participation Front, Construction Executives, and Worker's House. [4]
The Combatant Clergy Association is a politically active group in Iran, but not a political party in the traditional sense.
The Islamic Coalition Party is a conservative political party in Iran that favors economic liberalism.
The Association of Combatant Clerics is an Iranian reformist clerical political party.
The day before the election, the reformist newspapers Yas-e-no and Shargh were banned.
Shargh is the most popular reformist newspaper in Iran.
| Orientiation of candidates | Seats (1st rd.) | Seats (2nd rd.) | Seats (Total) | % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Conservatives | 156 | 40 | 196 | 67.58% |
| Reformists | 39 | 8 | 47 | 16.20% |
| Independents | 31 | 9 | 40 | 13.79% |
| Undecided | 59 | 2 | 2 | 0.68% |
| Armenians (reserved seat) | 2 | — | 2 | 0.68% |
| Chaldean and Assyrian Catholic (reserved seat) | 1 | — | 1 | 0.34% |
| Jewish (reserved seat) | 1 | — | 1 | 0.34% |
| Zoroastrian (reserved seat) | 1 | — | 1 | 0.34% |
| Total (Decided seats) | 231 | 59 | 288 | 99.31 |
| Source: IPU (1st round), Rulers (2nd round) | ||||
According to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) analysis, conservatives won 190 seats, reformists won 50 and independents won 43. [5]
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT). As one of the principal members of the United States Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet of the United States.
| Faction | Seats | Bloc seats | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Right-wing hardliners | 200 | 240a | |
| Reformists b | 40 | ||
| Independents | 40 | N/Aa | |
| Vacant seats | 10 | N/A | |
| Total | 290 | ||
| Source: Kazemzadeh [6] aAll independents were allied with hardliners aReformist are from ACC faction only | |||
Political historian Ervand Abrahamian credits the victory of Abadgaran and other conservatives in the 2004 elections (as well as the 2003 and 2005 elections) to the conservatives' retention of their core base of 25% of the voting population; their recruiting of war veteran candidates; their wooing of independents using the issue of national security; and most of all "because large numbers of women, college students, and other members of the salaried middle class" who make up the reformists' base of support "stayed home". [7] Pro-reform voters were discouraged by division in the reform movement and by the disqualifying of reform candidates from running for office. [8]
SeyyedMohammad Khatami 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 1992. He was a critic of former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government.
The Guardian Council of the Constitution is an appointed and constitutionally mandated 12-member council that wields considerable power and influence in the Islamic Republic of Iran.
The Iranian reformists are a political faction in Iran that support former President Mohammad Khatami's plans to change the Iranian political system to include more freedom and democracy. Iran's "reform era" is sometimes said to have lasted from 1997 to 2005—the length of Khatami's two terms in office. The Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front is the main umbrella organization and coalition within the movement; however, there are reformist groups not aligned with the council, such as the Reformists Front.
Iran's ninth presidential election took place in two rounds, the first on 17 June 2005, the run-off on 24 June. Mohammad Khatami, the previous President of Iran, stepped down on 2 August 2005, after serving his maximum two consecutive four-year terms according to the Islamic Republic's constitution. The election led to the victory of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the hardline mayor of Tehran, with 19.48% of the votes in the first round and 61.69% in the second. Factors thought to have contributed to Ahmadinejad's victory include mobilization of mosque networks and conservative/hardline voters, and a protest vote against corrupt elite insiders and for "new political blood". A loyal supporter of conservative Supreme Leader Khamenei, Ahmadinejad kissed the leader's hand during his authorization ceremony. Officials reported a turnout of about 59% of Iran's 47 million eligible voters, a decline from the 63% turnout reported in the first round of balloting a week before.
Abdollah Noori is an Iranian cleric and reformist politician. Despite his "long history of service to the Islamic Republic," he became the most senior Islamic politician to be sentenced to prison since the Iranian Revolution when he was sentenced to five years in prison for political and religious dissent in 1999. He has been called the "bête noire" of Islamic conservatives in Iran.
Mohammad Reza Aref is an Iranian engineer, academic and reformist politician who is currently parliamentary leader of reformists' Hope fraction in the Iranian Parliament, representing Tehran, Rey, Shemiranat and Eslamshahr. Aref has also been heading the Reformists' Supreme Council for Policymaking since its establishment in 2015.
The Alliance of Builders or Developers of Islamic Iran, usually shortened to Abadgaran, was an Iranian conservative political federation of parties and organizations. Described as "Iran's neocons", main groups within the alliance were Front of Followers of the Line of the Imam and the Leader members and Society of Devotees of the Islamic Revolution.
Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf is an Iranian conservative politician and former military officer who held office as the Mayor of Tehran from 2005 to 2017. Ghalibaf was formerly Iran's Chief of police from 2000 to 2005 and commander of Revolutionary Guards' Air Force from 1997 to 2000.
Mostafa Moeen, is an Iranian politician, professor of Pediatrics, and a human right activist which is currently founder and president of Center for Human Rights and Democracy in Iran. He was a presidential candidate for the 2005 Iranian presidential election. His campaign enjoyed the support of some reformist parties and organizations, headed by the Islamic Iran Participation Front (IIPF).
Iranian presidential election of 1997 took place on 23 May 1997, which resulted in an unpredicted win for the reformist candidate Mohammad Khatami. The election was notable not only for the lopsided majority of the winner - 70% - but for the high turnout. 80% of those eligible to vote did so, compared to 50% in the previous presidential election.
Parliamentary elections were held in Iran on 18 February 2000, with a second round on 5 May. The result was a solid victory for 2nd of Khordad Front and its allies, the reformist supporters of President Mohammad Khatami.
Legislative elections for Majlis of Iran were held on 14 March 2008, with a second round held on 25 April 2008. Conservatives loyal to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad were considered the victors of the election, at least in part because "all the most prominent" reformist candidates were disqualified from running.
Parliamentary elections were held in Iran on 8 March 1996, with a second round on 19 April. The Combatant Clergy Association and its allies emerged as the largest bloc in the Majlis, winning 110 of the 270 seats.
The Presidency of Mohammad Khatami was the 7th and 8th government of Iran after the Iranian Revolution. At that time, Mohammad Khatami was president.
Moderation and Development Party is a political party in Iran. It is a pragmatic-centrist political party which held its first congress in 2002.
Parliamentary elections were held in Iran in 1952 to elect the 17th Iranian Majlis.
The parliamentary election for the 9th Islamic Consultative Assembly, or Majlis, were held in Iran on Friday, 2 March 2012 with a second round on 4 May 2012 in those 65 districts where no candidate received 25% or more of the votes cast. More than 5,000 candidates registered but more than a third were disqualified by the Guardian Council leaving about 3,400 candidates to run for the 290 seat representing the 31 provinces.
Parliamentary elections were held in Iran on 26 February 2016 to elect members of the Islamic Consultative Assembly for all seats in the 10th parliament in the Islamic Republic era and the 34th since the Persian Constitutional Revolution. A second round was held on 29 April 2016 for some constituencies where candidates failed to obtain the required minimum 25 percent of votes cast. The elected MPs will serve from May 28, 2016 to May 27, 2020.
The Council for Coordinating the Reforms Front or the Reformist Front Coordination Council is the umbrella organization, coalition and council of main political groups within the Iranian reform movement. Since 2015, it is overseen by the Reformists' Supreme Council for Policymaking.
An election to the Islamic City Council of Tehran took place on 19 May 2017, along with the local elections nationwide.
| Presidential | |
|---|---|
| Parliamentary | |
| Senate | |
| Assembly of Experts | |
| Municipal | |
| Constitutional | |
| Referendums | |
