Conservatives secure majority in Tehran parliament

28 April 2008
Conservatives have won 69 per cent of the seats in Iran’s parliament, the Majlis, according to Mostafa Pour Mohammadi, the Interior Minister.

The ministry adds that reformists had won 16 per cent of seats and independent candidates 15 per cent, after officials finished counting ballot papers from the second round of voting on 25 April.

Mohammadi declined to say how many seats each of the three factions has won in the 290-seat parliament .

However, if the percentages are correct, the conservatives have 198 seats, the reformists 46 and independent candidates have 43.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could face challenges from parliament even though the conservatives have a large majority because many conservatives are believed to oppose the government’s policies, especially relating to the economy.

On 22 April, outgoing economy minister Davoud Danesh Jaafari accused Ahmadinejad of only being concerned by “peripheral” economic issues.

A MEED Subscription...

Subscribe or upgrade your current MEED.com package to support your strategic planning with the MENA region’s best source of business information. Proceed to our online shop below to find out more about the features in each package.