TEHRAN (Agencies)
Iranian conservatives were advancing Sunday towards a two-thirds majority in parliament but with reformists retaining a presence despite losing hundreds of candidates to pre-election vetting.
Conservatives have taken 120 seats in the 290-member assembly against 46 for reformists so far, the state Press TV station reported, citing the Interior Ministry. Four seats had gone to independents and 30 more would go to run-off votes.
The Interior Ministry, which supervised Friday's vote, has said a final nationwide tally might take a day or two.
Many reformists, trying to capitalize on public discontent over double-digit inflation, were disqualified from standing in the polls, but they expect President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to undergo sharper scrutiny even in a parliament dominated by their conservative rivals.
"The president will face more challenges with the next parliament than he did with the current one," said Mohammad Ali Abtahi, a close ally of reformist ex-President Mohammad Khatami.
If confirmed, the 46 reformist seats cited by Press TV take them beyond the 40 or so they had in the outgoing parliament.
Larger Iranian cities were expected to declare their winners from Friday's vote on Sunday although those from Tehran -- the most crucial results of all -- were not expected before Monday. |
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Two-thirds majority But officials and the various coalitions agreed that conservatives were heading for around 70 percent of seats in the next parliament and reformists 20 percent, with independents making up the rest.
"More than 71 percent of the seats inside the parliament have been won by the conservatives," Interior Minister Mostafa Pour Mohammadi announced, based on partial results from an unspecified number of seats.
But reformists also hailed their own performance as a "remarkable success", saying that despite the disqualifications they were on course to win around 50 seats -- not including Tehran -- in the parliament.
"Despite all the restrictions ... we managed to disturb the game of our opponents," reformist coalition spokesman Abdollah Nasseri told reporters.
Compared with other legislatures in the region, Iran's parliament wields a respectable amount of power, but its capacities are limited by the unelected Guardians Council, which must approve all legislation.
Reformists and some conservatives have accused Ahmadinejad of fuelling inflation, now at 19 percent, by lavishly spending Iran's windfall oil revenues on subsidies, loans and handouts.
Pro-reform politicians have also rebuked Ahmadinejad for vitriolic speeches that have kept Iran on a collision course with the United Nations over Tehran's disputed nuclear plans. Larijani has also queried the president's style.
However, Ahmadinejad has won public backing from Iran's top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has explicitly endorsed his handling of the nuclear row. |
