Feb 15, 2020, 12:40 PM

Race for Parl. in Tehran enters new stage as main rivals offer candidates’ lists

Race for Parl. in Tehran enters new stage as main rivals offer candidates’ lists

TEHRAN, Feb. 15 (MNA) – The 11th Parliament election will be held on Friday and like every other period, the race for 30 seats of Tehran has its own sensitivity and significance.

Principalists offered their 30-candidate list on Friday. Presenting the list, Gholam-Ali Haddad Adel, the chairman of the Council of Islamic Revolution Forces Alliance, called on the people of Tehran to vote for the list in the upcoming polls.

Former Tehran Mayor, Mohammad Baqer Qalibaf, and Mostafa Aqa-Mirsalim who both ran for the 12th Presidential election in 2017 are top on the list.

On the other side of the race, seven reformist parties have established ‘coalition for Iran’. Faraj Kimjani, the head of the election campaign of the coalition, said in a presser on Saturday that this coalition has been formed to hold a competitive election in line with the country’s interests. Threats from foreign countries require us to have a live significant election, he said.  

Majid Ansari, head of the Association of Combatant Clerics, and Mostafa Kavakebian, the secretary-general of Mardomsalari party (Democracy Party), are among the main figures of the list.

The election campaigns officially began in Iran at 00:00 Thursday (20:30 GMT, Wednesday), and will last until the end of next Wednesday, February 19.

The nationwide votes for the parliament and the midterm election of the Assembly of Experts will be held simultaneously on Friday, February 21.

The campaigns for the Assembly of Experts midterm election had already begun on February 6.

A total of 7,148 candidates, including dozens of Iranians from the religious minorities, are running for the parliament. There are 290 seats in the parliament up for grabs.

In capital Tehran, 1,453 candidates are contesting one of the 30 allocated seats on the legislature.

The lawmakers are elected for a 4-year term, with no limitation for the incumbent or former parliamentarians to run again.

Also people in five provinces, North Khorasan, Khorasan Razavi, Fars, Tehran and Qom are going to elect 7 candidates running for the midterm election of the 88-member Assembly of Experts, a high-ranking body that elects leader of the Islamic Revolution.

Members of the assembly are directly elected to office by people for an eight-year term. It holds biannual meetings to appoint a new chairman. Top Iranian officials have repeated calls over the past weeks for a high turnout in the elections.

MNA/TSN2203169

News Code 155633

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