Iran counts votes in election stacked in favour of hardliners

Iran has reportedly started counting votes in its parliamentary election Saturday, as the hardliner allies of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Revolutionary Guards look to gain a sizeable majority.

According to reports, an official from the ministry confirmed that the conservatives affiliated with Guards secured 83 out of 290 seats across 31 province following Friday’s parliamentary elections. The substantial victory of the hardliners indicates the collapse of the pragmatist political entities as loyalists to Khamenei proved to be the front runners.

Iranian officials have yet to announce the total turnout, they, however, revealed the names of the leading candidates in Tehran’s 30 parliamentary seats, confirmed reports. The results have corroborated the widening influence of the Guards across the country amid mounting pressures from the west over Nuclear deal and trade embargo from the US.

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The Trump administration’s withdrawal from the 2018 nuclear programme, imposition of fresh sanctions, and continued corruption and mismanagement within Iran wrought severe economic crisis on the Islamic Republic, impacting ordinary Iranians, said reports. The popularity of the hardliners associated with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, depicts the optimistic response from the citizens as per analysts.

Disqualification of over 7,000 potential candidates

The voting saw disqualification of more than 7,000 potential candidates, most of them reformists and moderates, that raised the possibility of lower-than-usual turnout. Among those disqualified were 90 sitting members of parliament who had wanted to run for re-election, suggest reports.

Reports reveal that the Iran’s ministry had urged the citizens for a high turnout to boost their legitimacy that was slandered during the widespread protests in November. The citizens carried out the demonstration in a violent crackdown that soared resentment among the people of Iran and the ministry.

 Abbasali Kadkhodai, the spokesman for the watchdog Guardian Council, told the media that the expected turnout could be about 50 percent. He further added that the Iranian nation had disappointed its enemies by voting in large numbers for the Guards.

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