Iran Parliamentary Polls Underway; First Election Since 2022 Hijab Law Protests (image@Khamenei_ir)
Iran started to vote for its first parliamentary election since the mass 2022 protests. The voting started March 1st. It is the first election since protests erupted over the mandatory hijab laws and the death of Mahsa Amini. The question of how many people will turn out for the polls looms the election.
The Supreme Leader of the country, Ayatollah Khamenei, will also cast one of the first votes. The election will also bring in new members to Iran’s Assembly of Experts. The panel of the clerics, who serve an eight-year term, is required to select a new supreme leader if Khamenei dies or steps down from his position, given his increased age.
Over 15,000 candidates are vying for seats in the 290-member parliament, which is formally known as the Islamic Consultative Assembly. The terms run for four years. Five seats are reserved for the religious minority in the country.
In Iran, under the law, the parliament has oversight over the executive branch, votes on treaties and, also handles other issues. The absolute power lies in the hands of the Supreme Leader.
Under the Parliament speaker, Mohammed Bagher Qalibaf, who was a former Revolutionary Gurad general that supported the violent crackdown on Iranian University students in 1999, the legislature pushed a bill in 2020, which greatly curtailed Iran’s cooperation with the United Nations nuclear watchdog, International Atomic Energy Agency.
This was followed by Donald Trump, then President of America, unilaterally withdrawing US from Iran’s nuclear deals with super powers in 2018, the act that created years of tension in Middle East, and saw Iran enabling enough uranium at record0breaking purity to have enough fuel for “several” nuclear weapons if it wishes.
After the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini under police custody, over the dispute of wearing hijab, a nationwide-protests erupted. The protesters demanded to overthrow the clerical power of the country, which was followed by the security crackdown, which killed over 500 people and more than 22,000 detainees.
