Iran Holds First Parliamentary Elections Since 2022 Protests
Iranians headed to the polls on Friday to participate in the country’s first parliamentary elections since the mass protests in 2022 over mandatory hijab laws following the death of Mahsa Amini. The turnout for this election is uncertain, with questions arising about how many people will actually show up to vote.
Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 84, was one of the first to cast his vote in the election, which also includes the election of new members to the Assembly of Experts. This panel of clerics, who serve an eight-year term, is responsible for selecting a new supreme leader in the event that Khamenei steps down or passes away, making their role crucial given Khamenei’s age.
Khamenei’s left hand slightly shook as he took his ballot from his right hand, which has been paralyzed since a 1981 bombing. State television captured the emotional moment of a woman nearby weeping as she filmed Khamenei with her mobile phone.
Encouraging people to vote early in the election, Khamenei emphasized the importance of turnout, stating that both Iran’s friends and enemies were watching closely. He urged voters to make friends happy and enemies hopeless through their participation in the election.
With around 15,000 candidates competing for seats in the 290-member parliament, known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly, initial election results are expected as early as Saturday. The parliament holds oversight over the executive branch, votes on treaties, and addresses other issues, although ultimate power in Iran lies with the supreme leader.
For the past two decades, hard-liners have dominated the parliament, often expressing anti-American sentiments. Under Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf’s leadership, the legislature passed a bill in 2020 that significantly reduced Tehran’s cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency following the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018.
Recent focus has shifted to Iran’s mandatory hijab laws for women following the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody in 2022, leading to nationwide protests. These protests evolved into calls for the overthrow of Iran’s clerical rulers, resulting in a violent security crackdown that claimed over 500 lives and led to the detention of more than 22,000 individuals.
Calls for an election boycott have gained traction in recent weeks, including from imprisoned Nobel Peace Prize laureate Narges Mohammadi, who labeled the elections as a “sham.” The boycott poses a challenge for the government, as Iran’s legitimacy since the 1979 Islamic Revolution has been tied to voter turnout.
The state-owned polling center ISPA released data predicting a turnout of 23.5 percent in Tehran and 38.5 percent nationally based on a survey of 5,121 voting-age individuals. The margin of error for the poll was reported to be 2 percent.
As Iranians await the outcome of this pivotal election, the results will undoubtedly shape the country’s political landscape and influence its relations with the international community.